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In this passage on pages 66-67 Frederick Douglass addresses the myth of Paternalism in acute detail, attacking every aspect of the myth and debunking it with logic and first-hand accounts. By connecting the Paternalism myth to the white children in his town, he cleverly appeals to the white mothers of the north and makes it easy for them to agree with his pleas. By exhibiting his teacher-like relationship with the white children of his town, Douglass reveals the inaccuracy of the myth that slaves are forever the student. His depiction of the assumption of a valuable role in the children’s lives through such language as “adopted” and “converted” displays how he himself is an example of the erroneousness of the myth (66).
Douglass’s descriptions of the slave trade were extremely vivid, from the details of how American’s viewed slaves, to the sounds of whips cracking and how a woman was encumbered by the weight of the child she carried and the chains that she wore. These details would bring readers to know what it was like to be in a slaves shoes at that time. His speech is driven by first had accounts of the degradations of slavery and would not be credible if it wasn’t for this fact. I believe that Douglass’s tone throughout the speech was hopeful, he enforced the cause of the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society with the hopes of making the United States more complete when slavery ended.
First Douglass writes about his relatives who were still being held by his old master. He begs Thomas Auld to tell him how they are doing and set them free. However, this is not enough so he asks his master how he would "look upon me, were I, some dark night, in company with a band of hardened villains, to enter the precincts of your elegant dwelling, and seize the person of your own lovely daughter, Amanda, and carry her … make her … compel her … place her … disregard her … feed her … and so on" (105). This is an important rebuttal which asks not only his master, but oppressors in general to imagine the reverse, where they are the ones being treated like that. It allows them to think about what it would be like were they in the same position as Frederick Douglass and his fellows.
In this narrative, Douglass describes a personal endeavor where he attempts to not only find a place for himself, but for every black man in America. In this narrative, Douglas is the actor, and the action is his attempt at reasoning his way to a common heritage with the American people. The time and place are de-emphasized in this narrative as brief generalities of being sometime in the past and occurring at a non-descript location. This is an intentional move by Douglass because it allows the emphasis to be placed on the manner and cause of the narrative which are two areas that carry greater rhetorical weight. The manner of his speech is one of an earnest and humble thinker who has been cast out from society through no fault of his own.
A very strong point that Frederick Douglas brings up is this horrible dehumanizing sense slavery gives the slaves. He calls a time where his master had passed away and the land and all property had to be divide among the children. Frederick Douglas states, “there were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being,” (Narrative…Frederick Douglas 35.) Slaves were property, just as he states the animals were, and how a lamp and land is. It makes the struggle slaves went through feel so heavy on our shoulders as Americans because we are always pro-freedom, yet during this dark time we refused to give it to another group of humans due to the difference of skin color.
This excerpt appeared in the Appendix of his autobiography and labeled the trends that he detailed in previous sections with examples from his own masters. As a freed slave, Douglas remarked on his experience in order to further the anti-slavery movement and did so by stripping down the religious defenses that were appealed to as justification for the slaveholding religion. In highlighting the hypocrisy, he was able to influence a larger audience with logic and first-hand accounts of pain and sorrow, bruising many peoples’ conceptions of the United States. His work reached the United Kingdom and was translated into other languages. The distinctions that were outlined were not made to exaggerate aspects of the institution but to share a conclusion based on explicit evidence, and it made audiences uncomfortable.
Throughout this passage, Douglass uses word structure, which is the organizational framework and overall design of the words in the reading to shape his description/message about his grandmother. For example, Douglas moves back in time and begins with loving stories about how loyal his grandmother was to her owners and there is a turning point where everything goes downhill. Douglas explains how “[his grandmother] was nevertheless left a slave—a slave for life—a slave in the hands of strangers” (358). Through the use of climax Douglas makes sympathize with the grandmother especially when one finds out that she was left in “perfect loneliness; thus virtually turning her out to die!” (358).
Douglass writes, “...she dies—and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death, or to place beneath the sod her fallen remains" (121). Douglass accentuates the inhuman nature of slaveowners and draws profound poignancy from readers through imagery. Withal, it leads to a found antipathy towards slavery, convincing the audience that it should be
In the beginning of chapter six, Frederick Douglass focuses the reader’s attention on how slavery can affect even the best and most innocent people. While talking about how slavery removes the good from slave owners, Douglass also explores how slavery is not only detrimental to them, but corrupts their ethics as well. Douglass remarks, “The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, did not answer when manifested toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she seemed to be disturbed by it” (19; ch. 6). Douglass’s word choice and use of antithesis in this section shows how Sophia Auld was a kind and hardworking woman who treated Douglass like a human being.
Douglass points to the vast unwillingness from the group of whites that refuses to fully perceive and accept African-Americans as deserving and equal citizens of the nation. Based on his personal experiences as a slave, Douglass is abundantly aware that the battle to abolish slavery is not an easy task. For the first twenty years of his life, he witnessed firsthand the abject cruelty of that institution in our country. Tactfully, Douglass seizes this opportunity to publicly highlight the unmerited and coarse differences in the treatment between the whites as opposed to the blacks living in the United States during this time period. He makes a “powerful testaments to the hypocrisy, bigotry and inhumanity of slavery” (Bunch 1).
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
he uses bold words and biting criticism to call attention to the gross injustices and hypocrisy of slavery in the United States. In the opening remarks of his speech, Douglas provides heart-wrenching descriptions to pull his audience into the lives of their fellow
Douglass uses deep characterization to show the change in behavior of slaveholders who have uncontrolled power. A good example of this is Sophia Auld. Before slavery took effect, she was a kind and caring woman who comprehended moral righteousness. She had never owned a slave before Douglass. Owning Douglass soon changed her into an evil slave owner when she realized the power, “the white man’s power to enslave the black man” that she had (Douglass 41).
Dehumanization of both slaves and slave owners must occur for slavery to exist. Slavery harms everyone involved, including the slaveholders who superficially seem to profit from the arrangement. Douglass’s narrative acknowledges the damage inflicted on both sides of the institution of slavery, emphasizing that a human being’s personality and disposition form per the laws and socially acceptable practices exhibited within the society. Douglass has an excellent example how he seen with his own eyes how his mistress became demonized when she became an owner of a slave. Douglass became Mrs. Auld's first salve owner and at the begging when they first met “she [was] of the kindest heart and finest feelings” (38).
In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass reveals his life as a slave and the valuable lessons he learned from his experience. Douglass wants the truth about slavery to be revealed and wants to eliminate the lies that portray slavery as beneficial. Douglass exposes the reality of slavery by criticizing the “romantic image” of slavery, showing the intellectual capabilities slaves had, and revealing the reasons why slaves were disloyal to each other. Douglass criticizes the southern, romantic image of slavery by exposing the harsh treatment and sadness that slaves endured. It was southerners who thought slavery as beneficial, because it benefited themselves and white society.
