Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Essay Example

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Frederick Douglass has been an important advocate of the anti-slavery movement of his time. Having been a former slave, Douglass knew the hardships of being in bondage and his book – Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave – articulates an account of his experiences as a slave. Douglass was born into slavery and a significant portion of his life had been spent in servitude, where he often came across masters that were generally cruel, although some showed relative kindness. The Southern region of the United States, during the antebellum period, was characterized by prevalent slavery. And to a great extent, Douglass’s status as a slave and his experiences during slavery, played a great part in spurring his anti-slavery stand. His escape to New York led him to a road where Douglass would later become an important figure in the abolitionist movement. Around the same time, the abolitionist movement had already started gaining momentum. At the time Douglass wrote his book, slavery had not been abolished yet and his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass very much described his time as a slave and his struggle from slavery to achieve freedom. Since Douglass spent a great deal of time living as a slave, his narrative is riddled with a subtle form of argument against slavery, backed up by facts of his harsh experiences. The tone of the author is somewhat emotionless throughout the book as he goes along telling his story, as though the narrator is an inanimate entity. The reason is clear only towards the beginning as Douglass tells us that he had been separated from his mother when he was about twelve months old. But the practice was not surprising but rather a common custom in the plantations where he was born (3). Douglass mentions that he had only seen his mother four or five times throughout the entire time his mother was alive. Perhaps the separation of a slave child from his mother had inhibited the natural affectionate bonding that could have developed between the two and hence, even the news of his mother’s death was met by a feeling as though a stranger had parted from the earth. Douglass brilliantly explains such feelings of how he barely knew of his mother and how her presence was never soothing to him as he never enjoyed a considerate amount of communication or interaction with her. With this, Douglass’ cold blooded tone continues to reveal his sufferings when he worked on plantations. Douglass narrates his experiences with a considerable level of patience and impassiveness while his writing stresses the events of his life as witnesses of his sufferings. Douglass explains his first encounter with a dreadfully graphic event of cruelty where his master whipped Aunt Hester (5). It had been the first sighting of a slave being whipped by Douglass and the spectacle dreaded him. With this description, he tells us how cruel his master was that no level of pleading could soften his heart to the sufferings of his victims. While attempting to describe the scene, Douglass maintains the literary compliance at the same time effectively explaining the inhumanity exercised by his master. The account also explains the contemptible worth of life in the eyes of his cruel masters. With descriptions of the events he experienced and witnessed, Douglass is undoubtedly making an argument against slavery. However, his use of rhetoric employs a combination of both ethos and pathos where his tone is essentially emotionless and his experiences speak louder to form an anti-slavery narrative. Thus, his use of appeal is not entirely pathetic due to his lack of sentimental and emotionally-charged narrative. Neither is his narrative entirely ethical where his credibility or oratorical power influences his readership or audience. Rather, Douglass’ argument in his book employs a mixture of ethos and pathos as a way to appeal to his target audience. The narrative effectively recollects the sufferings and hunger felt by the author during his stay at his master’s residence. Hunger remains a prominent element in his narrative as it points out towards the severity of inhumanity and harshness, all products of slavery. As Douglass arrived at Master Thomas’ house, he experienced a practice that was even disapproved among the community of slaveholders – the non-providence of enough food. Master Thomas was, as Douglass has described, a mean and cruel man who did not even give him course food, let alone in sufficient quantity. At this point, Douglass tells us that begging or stealing from the neighbors seemed like the only way to maintain the survival. Douglass admits that begging seemed apparently more legitimate than stealing but both actions were driven by a necessity of subsistence and not by any evil motive. The incident invokes a thought at the ethical dimension of dilemmas where extreme hunger motivates judicially criminal acts but those that are justified by a necessity to live. In another part of the story, Douglass narrates a fight that took place when he was working as a ship-carpenter along with other black freemen and white men. The fight seemed to be motivated by prejudice and discrimination than any constructive argument. In this fight, Douglass almost lost an eye after being attacked by white ship-carpenters. Although the narration of the incident could have been used as an emotional appeal, Douglass’ calm and focused demeanor allows him to convey his treatise against slavery in an impactful way. A powerful story begins as Douglass flees from Maryland to discover his inner strength to struggle against slavery in a time when slavery was still commonplace. His escape did not ensure his freedom but he was still considered to be a fugitive who had run away from his master. Before his escape to New York, he had spent seven years with Master Hugh where he learnt how to read and write, a sort of privilege for a slave. His mistress was kind enough to instruct him to read and write but, as Douglass explains, slavery soon turned her tender heart into stone. Its first manifestation was in her halt over instructing Douglass (32). This harshness was a result of slavery which seemed to harden even the softest heart like that of his mistress. Douglass’ whole book presents an argument explaining how much slavery has contributed to individual defragmentation and sufferings on the whole. Throughout the book, Douglass has made a case for the abolishment of slavery because it breeds discrimination and negativities. Having gone through his experiences as a slave, Douglass’ book explains every reason why human beings should be free. At several occasions, it is apparent how Douglass felt alien to humane treatments, particularly as shown by his mistress. Overall, Douglass’ narrative engenders an effective argument against slavery and a useful account for future generations about a history that has been forgotten. For those from the antebellum period, however, did not seem to be convinced by Douglass’ writing as he was assumed to be one of the few black slaves to be enjoying good companionship with his white counterparts. Douglass enjoyed a good relationship with many of his white fellow men, few of which even helped him purchase his freedom from his tyrannous master. Also, Douglass’ literary intelligence and his ability to read and write pointed towards the contrary of a supposed former “slave” since slaves were normally not provided with modern education. His appearance and his fluency with writing often attracted opposition by some who were skeptical of Douglass even being a former slave in the first place. Douglass’ narrative also attracted criticism when many people questioned the truthfulness of his book. Douglass seemed to be an oddity to know how to read and write in a time when educating slaves was considered a social taboo. His style of writing was analytical where he displayed the ability to articulate his experiences in an incisive manner. In particular, he managed to maintain the literary consistency of the period while communicating sensitive subjects of exploitation and harassment effectively. By the time his book was published, Douglass had started gaining attention among the common people. The presence of a personal account in the narrative and the use of original names of all the characters involved added realism to his book. Moreover, his tone in the book added weight and impact to his book where many of his opponents and naysayers were silenced. Of course, his writing style played an important role in conveying a message that would not have gone through as effectively otherwise. Douglass was getting more actively involved in the abolitionist movement a in the book proved to be a seminal work complimenting his efforts towards the anti-slavery movement. In a way, the book helped boost support for the anti-slavery as the movement gained further momentum after its publishing. His narrative still remains a trusted account of his experiences as a slave as well as an argument against slavery through the use of effective rhetoric. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Boston: The Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. Print. 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