How does Douglass define manhood - Essay Example

?Sur Lecturer How does Douglass define manhood? Fredrick Douglass, a former slave, in his writings upholds the value and principles of a man. He believes that a man should live according to principles based on respect for others, self-respect, respect for natural world, and love for God. Manhood is a theme that Fredrick Douglas has majored on in most of his writings concerning slavery. This paper seeks to discuss how Douglass defines manhood. According to Douglass, any man who defends or supports slavery should be denied true manhood. This is inclusive of any action or institution that steals from human beings their dignity and freedom given by God. There are actually minimal signs of manhood in the first pages of the autobiography of Fredrick Douglass. In fact, in his writings, he asserts that some slaves had their manhood stripped from them by slavery horrors committed by slave owners. Fredrick Douglass looks at those shaped by slavery as either slave owners or slaves to suffer the slavery dehumanizing character. That is, they endure loss of their own humane. The last chapters of the narratives of Douglass show manhood as a major theme of the stories. He associates manhood with black masculinity and violence that emerged in the battle with Covey. The kind of manhood that Douglass earned and sought in both freedom and slavery, what most of the white readers were disturbed about. According to Douglass, his sense of manhood does not depend on beating up his oppressor, but rely on preventing oppressor from beating him up. Fredrick Douglass recounts all the events that led to the fight with Covey and argues that he only turned to violence as a last resort. This is what Douglass call manhood: preventing your oppressor from exploiting you, especially when any other means of defending yourself against your oppressor has failed. Douglass sought to reclaim his manhood to entail entirely a fight with Covey. He in this particular case defines manhood as standing for yourself, defending yourself, demanding your fundamental human rights, and not to allow your oppressor physically and psychologically humiliate you. When we look at the incident after the battle with Covey, Fredrick Douglass indicates that his revitalized manhood sense received expression in community building: the establishment of a covert Sabbath school where a 17 year old taught slaves to read. Douglass also shows his manhood by including other slaves in his attempts to escape. This was a sign of commitment to the other slaves. Although the plan failed due to betrayal, Douglass remained committed to get freedom in spite of his sufferings and isolation. This reinforces the kind of impression Douglass gives to the readers that he was sorting to fulfill a purpose not merely for himself but for a black man. He calls this manhood. Virtually, all that Fredrick Douglass narrates concerning his last years under slavery and his first years of freedom demonstrates his dedication to the black manhood firmly aligned with the classical American standards of middle class. The independence and economic freedom that Douglass demands of Hugh Auld are utterly consistent with what any workingman, white male would expect as his rights of employment in the mid 19th century America. Douglass also shows manhood after he escapes through his employment, actions, community activism, continued self improvement, and his bid for being a contributing and productive member of society. This then tells us what Douglass considers full manhood: being responsible in the society. Fredrick Douglass in his narratives also demonstrates his unique selfhood that lays the foundation for his ultimate claim of full manhood. His narratives are actually structured by instances of intense exposure that dramatizes the evolving sense of Douglass’s selfhood. Douglass also stresses the interrelationship and interconnectedness of literacy, selfhood and manhood. Reading results into thinking leading to clutching about the distinctions he had with his life as a slave and the freedom he discovered through peering into books and newspapers. Douglass learned what abolitionism is through reading. He did not only have the desire to attain freedom, but also had fantasies about how he may obtain his liberty. This according to Fredrick Douglass is achieving full manhood. Douglass had many authorities claiming him as their own property due to his pronounced consciousness. For instance, Auld instructed him and quash his incipient and recalcitrance rebellion. Douglass also associates manhood with the development of sense of selfhood and violent defiance of the white power. He throttled Covey successfully and attained his full manhood. The victory was his turning point in his life. It restored his sense of manhood. The climactic scene of Douglass’s narratives places him on a podium for the very first time and addressed the public against slavery. The scene melded the central themes of Douglass’s writings effectively into a positive statement that portends the future greatness of Douglass. As Douglass approaches the podium in the occasion on the antislavery rally in Connecticut, Nantucket, he acknowledges a shackle lingering in his sense of selfhood. The act of that public address proved liberation. He identified himself as a fully liberated man, a man who achieved his own freedom: a man who has obtained his full manhood. Can we then say that manhood is ability to self liberate? The story of Douglass during his youth is anticipated as an intellectual knowledge quest and the mechanism of obtaining that knowledge. His literacy predicts his ultimate physical quest from slavery to freedom. Douglass learned the relevance of knowledge to a slave when he was still a boy. He overheard Auld Hugh chastise Sophia, his wife for teaching slaves how to read. One is forever unfit to be a slave once he or she learns to read. Douglass realized that the source of Whiteman’s power was in the literacy. He associates manhood with literacy. He learns to read and says he has a sense of selfhood and claims full manhood. In summary, Fredrick Douglass says that every man can achieve his full manhood: every man has a potential to be great. This can be done through intellectual and moral growth resulting from self culture. He says that men can therefore expand their potentials to become ideal men: achieve manhood. According to his writings during slavery, when a man looks at himself, he discovers appetites, desires, and passions terminating in him, craving and seeking his interests, distinctions, gratification. This makes a man strive to be great, responsible in the society and achieve manhood. We can therefore say that Douglass associates manhood with self respect and responsibility in the society: ability to help and self liberate. Works Cited Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, New York: W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2012. Print. Read More