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Frederick Douglass And Oppression Analysis

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There are many ways to be oppressed . Both Frederick Douglass and Barbara Ehrenreich prove that to be true through their experiences. Douglass goes through the following faces of oppression violence , cultural imperialism, exploitation, and powerless. ; Ehrenreich faces exploitation. Both authors use their personal experiences to show the various to be oppressed. Throughout the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Douglass is violently oppressed repeatedly. When being treated so inhumane , he starts to understand it's becoming a way of life for a slave (Douglass 45). It's not until later on in his experience that Douglass begins to stop being violently oppressed by his master. “ To maintain his reputation,he suffered me to go unpunished.”(Douglass …show more content…

Douglass and other slaves were only seen as property to their masters. Not only was being a slave master accepted as the norm , so was being of the Caucasian race. Whatever the Caucasian American said became the rules of society. Many of the slaves also saw being a slave as the norm for anyone of the African American race. Douglass was exploited throughout his experience as a slave. He worked majority of his life without receiving any monetary benefits. Douglass worked hard everyday as a slave and so did every other slave. Slaves received little clothing, food that lacked the proper amount of nutrients. Douglass’s experience is the perfect example of “ overworked and underpaid.” Ehrenreich chose to be exploited. She writes this book based on the simple fact that she wanted to know what it's like to averagely poor. “ With wages included , this amounts to about the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.” ( Ehrenreich 28). She worked 8-10 hours everyday as a waitress. With working these type of hours and receiving that type of pay, she was getting what she wanted which was to be oppressed in the area of

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