Abuse In Frederick Douglass

In Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass emphasizes the abuse of Aunt Hester. Aunt Hester was a “woman of noble form” (319), but she faced severe cruelties from her master. Aunt Hester was whipped in an unseemly manner, causing the “so terrified and horror stricken” (319) Douglass to hide himself in a closet. This incident left Douglass flabbergasted because he “had never seen anything like it before” (319). Douglass’s witnessing of the brutality of the slaveholders fueled a stronger sense of hatred towards slavery. Throughout his narrative, the memory of Aunt Hester's abuse caused Douglass to characterize the slaveholders and overseers as inhumane men to convey the idea that slavery destroys the slaves’ mental/physical state.

Mr.Gore was an overseerer who had replaced Mr.Hopkins. Mr.Gore was “artful, “cruel”, and “obdurate” (329), and he would employ the “full exercise of all his powers” (329) on the slaves. Once, Mr.Gore had “tak[en] deadly aim [with a gun]... and in an instant poor Demby was no more” (331) because Demby, a slave, ran into a creek to save himself from Gore’s whipping. This created a “thril of horror through... the plantation” (331). Despite this terrible deed, “his horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation” (331), This exemplifies that the incident had weakened the slaves’ mental state because the law did not support them. Douglass’s critical tone, throughout this section of the passage, emphasizes the fear that the slaves had towards Mr.Gore. The name of Gore signifies a terror because it is usually used to indicate violence. In other words, Douglass characterizes Mr.Gore as an ignoble man, who terrorizes the slaves both mentally and