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Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

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Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass
One of the pro-slavery arguments stated in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass persisted that slaves accommodated inadequate mental abilities; they used slavery as an extenuation for caretaking. Douglass demolishes this bickering soon after his appetency for education inaugurates. His new mistress, Mrs. Auld, is delighted to teach Frederick how to read, but her husband prevents this situation from advancement. He says that teaching slaves to read is illegitimate and risky (Douglass 20). He states, “As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy,” (Douglass 20). Mr. Auld presents a contrasting statement towards the idiocy of slaves; he takes another approach by associating …show more content…
Hugh’s house, Douglass gains literacy by not only reading, but writing as well. Frederick soon discovers that education not only came with freedom, but dishonesty and slander too.
As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! that very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish. As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity (Douglass 24).
Although the author is bewildered by this statement, he confirms that white southerners are faulty in their belief that slaves are brainless; moreover, Douglass was able to instruct himself with diminutive benefit from Mrs. Auld and the poverty-stricken, caucasian boys who lived down the street; he didn’t need much help, if any at all, to obtain a superior mental capacity. Slaves were quite shrewd. They just didn’t have the resources or fortuity for education without being beaten to death; consequently, whippings were used to strip these slaves of their identities. Without an identity, slaves were forcefully used for labor, and were left brainwashed due to the overpowering of the
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