Review on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave - Book Report/Review Example

Frederick Douglass's autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave’’ was published in 1845. Throughout his life Douglass, worked to modify and develop his autobiography by publishing a second version in 1855, third version in 1881 and the last version in 1892. It is a story of his life from the time when he was born as a slave in Tuckahoe, Maryland till the time when he managed to escape for freedom and resettled in Bedford, Massachusetts (Douglass et al 2009).

Douglass has talked about the political, social, historical and legal concerns of slavery and also asked philosophical questions regarding freedom. He became a public speaker and a writer to spread his views on the subject of equality. He successfully became one of the best known abolitionists in America and one of the most famous black Americans of his time. Thousands of copies of the Narrative were sold instantly and the book was translated to French and German as well (Douglass et al 2009).

The story is set in pre civil war Maryland, New York and Bedford, Massachusetts. Douglass is born on a slave plantation in the rural areas of Maryland. Slavery in Maryland was extremely dreadful but Douglass writes that life was worst in Deep South which could be used to imagine the extent of the atrocious way slaves were treated in the Deep South. He spent much of his young adult life in Baltimore where he felt that his situation was a bit better than before. He eventually escapes to New York where he is still not safe and there is a threat of him being abducted and bought back to the South again.

Therefore he moves further North to Bedford, Massachusetts and joins the abolitionist movement (Douglass et al 2009). This masterpiece by Douglass incorporates a number of themes. It is one of the most important historical documents about slavery in America and exemplifies us the type of life American slaves lived. Douglass reveals heart touching incidents of how the slaves were physically and mentally tortured and tormented. The numerous examples he has given contribute to the severe barbaric treatment by the slaveholding system.

Slaves were beat and whipped, they were not allowed to study or learn, they had no appropriate food, clothing and shelter, slave women were raped by white slave owners to fulfill their sexual hunger and to increase slave population. When he was little he saw his Aunt Hester being beaten and recalls his first experience of witnessing the behavior of slave owners; “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest . and not until overcome by fatigue, would he cease .

I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was . a child, but I well remember it . I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it” (Douglas p. 20). Moreover he also brings into light the pretense of Christian slave owners who used religion as a tool to justify their loathsome treatment of the slaves (Multilingual Archive Index; Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States 2004). Apart from Slavery, other concepts are highlighted in the book as well.

Douglass emphasizes on the significance of education and recounts that the slaves were denied access to education which prevented them from recognizing their rights. Lack of education and learning was the obstacle