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

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Describe the role of the autobiography in the abolitionist movement (introduction of Narrative). Why was authenticity so important to Douglass? What steps did he take to prove the authenticity of his story? Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and wrote the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, primarily to further his cause, liberation of the slaves and abolition of slavery. Autobiographical narrations, both oral and written, have been very effective tools in the progress of abolitionist movement just because of the authenticity of first person narratives, the ability of personal narratives to touch the hearts of the receivers, and also the empathies that other slaves would feel with the narrator. Douglass had written the book in order to clarify himself to those who doubted whether such a great orator like Douglass could ever have been a slave as he had been claiming (15). To prove the authenticity of his story, Douglass has included the names, places and similar facts wherever necessary in the text. He (Douglass) has provided great detailing in his text of every incident he narrates so that the reader is convinced of the authenticity of his narrative. He (Douglass) has been impartial and truthful in narrating the characters of his slave masters as he describes some a extremely cruel and other as more humane. In this manner, he gives an impression that he is telling the truth without distorting truth to attain his purpose of depicting how bad slavery is. Also, he (Douglass) has declared in the end of the book that he was “faithfully relying upon the power of truth” (122). 2) Why was literacy so important to Douglass? Why did slave owners strictly forbid the education of slaves? How was Douglass able to achieve an education? Slave owners forbade the education of slaves because they considered it “unsafe” (44). They believed that ““a nigger should know nothing but to obey his master – to do as he is told to do”” (Douglass, 44). The line of thinking of the slave masters was that “learning would spoil the best nigger in the world” and would make him “unmanageable” (Douglass, 44). Douglass was able to achieve education primarily because Mrs. Auld started teaching him the alphabets (Douglass, 44). When Douglass heard Mr. Auld explain to Mrs. Auld why it was unsafe to let a slave get education, he realized that education was the only way out of slavery for a slave (Douglass, 44). And from that day onwards, he made it a point to keep a unquenchable desire for learning inside his heart (Douglass, 44). Douglass at first learned to read and write on his own with the help of newspapers as he had been already taught the alphabets by Mrs. Auld (Douglass, 48). He (Douglass) also sought the help of little white boys whom he met in the street by befriending them (48). He (Douglass) would give the bread that he gets from the owner’s house to poor white street urchins in return of teaching him to read (49). After this, Douglass started learning to write by memorizing the letters marked on timber logs which were used by ship carpenters (Douglass, 52). After learning to write four letters, he would challenge white boys to defeat him in writing and when they wrote new letters, he would learn them as well (Douglass, 53). He learned by practicing writing on “board fence, brick wall, and pavement” (53). He also read whatever books he could get hold of (Douglass, 49). When he got an opportunity, he secretly taught other slaves also to read and write (Douglass, 85-86). 3) How does Douglass attempt to engage the sympathies of his audience? Douglas has adopted a narrative style that is matter of fact and not very sentimental. Through this style, he has heightened the drama of his narrative in a subtle way and the reader is drawn into the sufferings of the slaves merely because of the lack of emotion and coldness. For example when he says, “it was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was worth a halfcent to kill a “nigger”, and a half-cent to bury one,” the reader is made to stand facing the cruelty of the system (Douglass, 37). The author (Douglass) adds no further comments to this sentence and abruptly ends one chapter here. This kind of understatement has made his narrative very powerful and heartrending. He (Douglass) has not only talked about his own experiences but also about what other slaves have endured. In this way, he has raised his personal story to the realm of a universal issue that affected millions of black people. This has helped remove the element of subjectivity from his story and given it an appeal to a vast audience. 4) What role did religion play in Douglass’s life? In his owners lives? What events in his life did Douglass attribute to divine Providence? Why? Religion had been a great source of strength for Douglass as he endured many miserable experiences as a slave (42). He (Douglass) has said that “in the darkest hour of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom” (42). Douglass used to pray to God whenever he was miserable under the oppression of his slave masters (72). But he (Douglass) was of the opinion that “religion of the south …(was)…a mere covering for the most horrid crimes” for the slave owners (82). One of his slave masters, Thomas Auld was an active member of Methodist Church but that did not make him any kinder to the slaves (Douglass, 62). Similarly, another master of Douglass, Mr. Covey “was a professor of religion- a pious soul- a member and a class-leader in the Methodist church” but yet, he was a cruel ““nigger-breaker”” (65). Douglass has clarified himself that though he despised the “slave-holding religion” of his country, he equally loved the “pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ (116). Douglass has attributed his being selected to serve the kind Sophia Auld in Baltimore to divine Providence because any other slave children might have been selected in his place as there were many (42). And his (Douglass) entry into the house of Mrs. Auld, according to Douglass, “opened the gate way, to all …(his)…subsequent prosperity” (42). The next felt presence of Providence in his life was when he came under the ownership of Mrs. Lucretia and returned to Baltimore estate instead of falling into the clutches of another cruel slave owner, Master Andrew (Douglass, 55). 5) Several times in his Narrative, Douglass expresses his view that slavery is harmful to both slaves and their owners. Describe the changes Douglass noticed in his mistress, Mrs. Auld, due to the introduction of slavery. In what ways was slavery detrimental to Southern society? Mrs. Auld was a very kind-hearted woman when Douglass met her for the first time and Douglass was the first slave whom she owned (Douglass, 43). But after she owned a slave, she gradually transformed into a cruel woman just like all other slave masters and Douglass tells that her “cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord, and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon” (43). In this manner, Douglass has shown how slavery dehumanizes not just the slave but also the master. He (Douglass) has further added that under the influence of the system of slavery, the heart of Mrs. Auld “became stone” (47). Works Cited Douglass, Frederick, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave”, Charleston: Forgotten Books, 1990. Print. Read More