The Narrative of Frederick Douglass - Book Report/Review Example

The narrative discusses the life of Frederick Douglass during the 19th century. Alfred Woodard acts as the narrator in the movie adaptation of the narrative. This depicted Douglass as a slave at birth and he was deprived of a lot of things that a young boy was supposed to have. Education was one thing that he lacked. A slave owner's wife was his first teacher so even though Douglass did not attend school and experienced formal education, he was able to learn how to read books. Armed with knowledge, his awareness and understanding of the society grew deeper.

He was able to make comparisons about the situation he was in and the situation of other people who were not slaves. Wisdom paved the way for his realization that slavery was a form of violating human rights that they, too also have. Since he was fortunate compared to his co-slave workers for he was able to read and understand, he pursued to liberate the slaves of the country. His ability to organize his thoughts into meaningful sentences, he became a persuasive public speaker and he shared to the world what he experienced as a slave including the civil rights injustices that were happening to slaves in general.

"The master is frequently compelled to sell this class of his slaves, out of deference to the feelings of his white wife; and, cruel as the deed may strike any one to be, for a man to sell his own children to human flesh-mongers, it is often the dictate of humanity for him to do so; for, unless he does this, he must not only whip them himself, but must stand by and see one white son tie up his brother, of but few shades darker complexion than himself, and ply the gory lash to his naked back; and if he lisp one word of disapproval, it is set down to his parental partiality, and only makes a bad matter worse, both for himself and the slave whom he would protect and defend.

" (Chapter 1, page 6) The Narrative was dramatic for there were scenes that depicted tragedy and difficulties that slaves encountered during that time. Douglass also had a lot of problems due to his utmost desire to help his fellow slaves. The narration was an effective method for it provides explanations and descriptions of the places and people that were presented in Douglass' work. It was a good choice that historians substantiated the importance of the works of Douglass. The Narrative depicted the situation of the United States at that time wherein people considered slaves as property and that before people can be equivalent to a certain amount of money.

The abolition of slavery was a turning point in American history for great changes were made that has made our country liberal and more democratic. The central message of his work was to inform people that slavery was a form of violating human rights of people regardless of their color or race. People deserve equal and fair treatment. Education can pave the way for social change and people should work hard to learn for this can make them successful later in life. As slave children grow older, slave owners thwart them from learning how to read and write, as literacy would give them a sense of self-sufficiency and capability.

Just as slave owners keep men and women as slaves by depriving them of knowledge and education, slaves must seek knowledge and education in order to pursue freedom. It is from Hugh Auld that Douglass learns this notion that knowledge must be the