Frederick Douglass Identity
In the book Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass: An American Slave, focuses on the daily realities of Fredrick Douglass’s life from a slave to a freed individual in the North, which essentially led to the formation of his own identity. Slavery is thrived to devalue the humanity of children, men, and women. The identity of a slave is property and had to nonetheless obey orders of their masters and perform work. Douglass had a lot of perseverance and courage to where he wanted to get to in his life, and that is his freedom. In this narrative, Douglass portrays the progression from the identity of being a slave/animal under a master to succeeding on creating his own identity. As Douglass lived in Baltimore serving his master, Mr.
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One day, Douglass decided to help two Irishmen and asked him if he is a slave for life. Douglass told the sad-truth, yes. “He said to the other that it was a pity so fine a little fellow as myself should be a slave for life. He said it was a shame to hold me. They both advised me to run away to the north…”(56). These men conveyed that Douglass should run far away from the plantation and go to the North to find his freedom. Initially, Douglass was very skeptical whether he should follow what these two White men were telling him. However as time and the severity of punishments and cruelty of slavery progressed, Douglass found the strength and confidence to escape the plantation. As Douglass was preparing for his escape, he knew that this became a necessity in his life. The attempts of his escape and the preparation, clearly justifies his urge for a new identity. It displays that if he continued to be present at the plantation under a Master, he will forever be labeled as a slave. “The wretchedness of slavery, and the blessedness of freedom, were perpetually before me. It was life and death with me.” (). After learning that slavery is precisely a degrading term, he wanted to be his own person with freedom. Douglass eventually changed his name from Fredrick Bailey Douglass to Fredrick Johnson. This simple name change gave more of a confirmation that he doesn’t want to have the past of slavery engraved to his name and that he is the only Master to himself. Fredrick Johnson is a freed man who escaped slavery. As a freed man, Douglass started to attend black abolitionist meetings, and later became a famous anti-slavery speaker. Douglass was free to express and say whatever came in his mind. Douglass desired for the equality between whites and blacks in the
One day, Douglass decided to help two Irishmen and asked him if he is a slave for life. Douglass told the sad-truth, yes. “He said to the other that it was a pity so fine a little fellow as myself should be a slave for life. He said it was a shame to hold me. They both advised me to run away to the north…”(56). These men conveyed that Douglass should run far away from the plantation and go to the North to find his freedom. Initially, Douglass was very skeptical whether he should follow what these two White men were telling him. However as time and the severity of punishments and cruelty of slavery progressed, Douglass found the strength and confidence to escape the plantation. As Douglass was preparing for his escape, he knew that this became a necessity in his life. The attempts of his escape and the preparation, clearly justifies his urge for a new identity. It displays that if he continued to be present at the plantation under a Master, he will forever be labeled as a slave. “The wretchedness of slavery, and the blessedness of freedom, were perpetually before me. It was life and death with me.” (). After learning that slavery is precisely a degrading term, he wanted to be his own person with freedom. Douglass eventually changed his name from Fredrick Bailey Douglass to Fredrick Johnson. This simple name change gave more of a confirmation that he doesn’t want to have the past of slavery engraved to his name and that he is the only Master to himself. Fredrick Johnson is a freed man who escaped slavery. As a freed man, Douglass started to attend black abolitionist meetings, and later became a famous anti-slavery speaker. Douglass was free to express and say whatever came in his mind. Douglass desired for the equality between whites and blacks in the