Who Is Frederick Douglass An Abolitionist
Fueling the Abolitionist Movement In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the question of true freedom is impossible to ignore. The narrative is told in the first person point of view and is about breaking out of the unbearable chains of slavery through the eyes of a real life slave. This narrative takes place from the time he was born in the nineteenth century to his escape to slavery in New York. Soon after he was born, Douglass was separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey; he also did not know his date of birth or who his real father was, although it was thrown around that it might be his white master, Captain Anthony. Many people believe that Douglass did not quite experience the heart wrenching cruelty like
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His new owners wife starts to teach him how to read until her husband finds out and responds in saying that “if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (37). Douglass, now determined to learn, continues to teach himself how to read and then begins to understand the cruelty of slavery and the presence of the abolitionist movement. He decides to plan his escape to the North. The way that this narrative is told shows readers that this story is about more than just slavery. Through his first person point of view, straightforward dialect, and ability to place his audience into his situation, Douglass orchestrated a famous piece of art using his words and memories to portray …show more content…
In one of the early chapters of the narrative when he is still trying to learn how to read, he gains help from a few white boys, who he claims he has converted into teachers. "You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?" (63). Although uncomfortable and blunt, Douglass directly quotes himself as a child to help readers grasp the inhumanity being shoved into the face of young Frederick Douglass and so many unfortunate others. I feel that he forces his readers to empathize. Douglass also claims that he is tempted to write the names of the boys who taught him as a form of gratitude but he states that “prudence forbids;—not that it would injure [him], but it might embarrass them; for it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country” (64). To me, the fact that Douglass was reluctant to share the boys’ names because their recognition might embarrass them saddened me and pulled me into the story even deeper. I was able to experience the life of Frederick Douglass just as he
His new owners wife starts to teach him how to read until her husband finds out and responds in saying that “if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (37). Douglass, now determined to learn, continues to teach himself how to read and then begins to understand the cruelty of slavery and the presence of the abolitionist movement. He decides to plan his escape to the North. The way that this narrative is told shows readers that this story is about more than just slavery. Through his first person point of view, straightforward dialect, and ability to place his audience into his situation, Douglass orchestrated a famous piece of art using his words and memories to portray …show more content…
In one of the early chapters of the narrative when he is still trying to learn how to read, he gains help from a few white boys, who he claims he has converted into teachers. "You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?" (63). Although uncomfortable and blunt, Douglass directly quotes himself as a child to help readers grasp the inhumanity being shoved into the face of young Frederick Douglass and so many unfortunate others. I feel that he forces his readers to empathize. Douglass also claims that he is tempted to write the names of the boys who taught him as a form of gratitude but he states that “prudence forbids;—not that it would injure [him], but it might embarrass them; for it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country” (64). To me, the fact that Douglass was reluctant to share the boys’ names because their recognition might embarrass them saddened me and pulled me into the story even deeper. I was able to experience the life of Frederick Douglass just as he