Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass: Book Analysis

America was founded upon equality in 1776, yet one of the biggest hypocrisies of the era was slavery; but of course slaves were not even considered citizens and therefore did not belong to the “nation,” allowing a permissible view on the subject matter. The prison of slavery was abhorrent, depicted through testimonials, interviews, journals, and images, which would appeal emotionally to the citizens of the U.S to lift their ignorance to the issue. However, instead of pity, the predominant manner of escaping the chains of slavery was to be educated, thus allowing a conscious awareness which would then enable action. This idea was perpetrated by Frederick Douglass and his piece, “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass,” in which the true
For instance, in Douglass’s narrative, “[R]elieved [Douglass] of one difficulty, [the slave masters] brought on another even more painful than the one of which [he] was relieved…[Douglass] was led to abhor and detest [his] enslavers” (24). Knowledge helps slaves articulate the injustice of slavery to themselves and others. Rather than providing an “immediate” freedom, this awakened consciousness was the stepping stone in bringing freedom, also brought suffering. Once slaves are able to articulate the injustice of slavery they come to loathe their masters, but still cannot physically escape without meeting great danger (showing the process described above). Another example from Douglass would be, “[Douglass] would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given [him] a view of [his] wretched condition, without the remedy. It had opened [his] eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out” (24). Once again depicting how the realization of the inequality/injustice of slavery leads to the questioning of authority and a new awakened consciousness that will lead to orations of this atrocity and action. “[Slaves] used frequently to talk about the fight with Covey, and as often as [they] did so, [Covey]
For example in “Frederick Douglass from Slavery to Freedom: The Journey to New York City” by the The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, encompasses the journey in which Douglass took and how his educating in small amounts led him to be a great orator and abolitionist in which he could depict the true horrors, sparking for greater change in abolitionism, alluding to how his skills (by education) led him to challenge even more. Another example would be “Self-taught: African-American Education in Slavery and Freedom” by Heather Andrea Williams, in which the book talks mainly about the works of Douglass and other abolitionists setting a new social order in educating young African Americans to open their eyes to the injustice they faced. It also talks about Douglass’s use of education in promoting equality and how he escaped slavery through becoming literate and achieving awareness, once again showing how freed men are going back to what set them free, realizing the importance. Finally, the last piece is “Slavery and Freedom in the British West Indies” by Mary Olwyn Blouet, which talks about the transition of enslavement to liberation for the slaves in the West Indies. It stated the several reasons for repudiating the educating of the slaves, such as