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Frederick Douglass Chapter 6 Analysis

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Frederick Douglass was a slave in the 1800s who escaped captivity in Maryland and fled to Massachusetts. During his time in slavery, he learned how to read and write, which later aided him in telling his story to convince people to abolish slavery. In Douglass’s autobiography Narrative of an American Slave, Douglass argues that the knowledge of slavery transforms people in chapter six using convincing metaphors, vivid imagery, and revealing parallelism.
In chapter six, Douglass uses metaphors to emphasize Sophia Auld’s change in behavior after experiencing the power of slavery. When he first meets Mrs. Auld, Douglass describes that “her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music” (p. 40). In saying this, Douglass is …show more content…

Douglass demonstrates her change through “that cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all a sweet accord, change to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon” (p. 40). Douglass uses a repetitive structure to affirm how Mrs. Auld’s transformation is because of slavery. He says that she changes in many ways from her eyes to her voice, and then to her face. He mentions these attributes of hers in the first paragraph, which describes her smiles as “heavenly” and her voice as “tranquil music” (p. 40). These descriptions contrast each other completely and prove her conversion to hatred. Douglass continues explaining his transformation by saying “what he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought” (p. 41). Here, Douglass explains how his thoughts have fully changed into ones that are separate from his master. The “great evil” and “great good’ mentioned represent the knowledge of how to read, write, and comprehend the world around him (p. 41). Douglass’s master-Mr. Auld- understood the power holding the black man under the white man. For that reason, he did not want Frederick to find out because he knew how detrimental understanding the means of his-Douglass’s- enslavement was for a slave owner. That is why Douglass sought it avidly and wanted to learn more. Mrs. Auld did not know that teaching Douglass how to read and write would affect him enough to completely rearrange how he thought. Therefore, the knowledge of slavery changed Sophia Auld and Frederick

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134 Words | 1 Pages

He does not agree with Mrs. Auld teaching Douglass these new things, because he felt the education ruined slaves and ultimately would make them unhappy and unruly. Although Mr. Auld’s word were quite harsh, Douglass took it as words of enlightenment and vowed to win his freedom

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560 Words | 3 Pages

“ This knowledge opened my eyes to the horrible pit, and revealed the teeth of the frightful dragon that was ready to pounce upon me, but it opened no way for my escape...I was wretched and gloomy, beyond my ability to describe”(Douglass 526). In this quote, Douglass describes why he transforms from “light-hearted” to “wretched and gloomy” due to him reading the Columbian Orator. 3. a) Douglass’s everlasting thinking consumes him once he obtains this knowledge. “It was this everlasting thinking which distressed and tormented me; and yet there was no getting rid of the subjects of my thoughts”(Douglass 526).

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1613 Words | 7 Pages

After eavesdropping on his white owner as to why education was forbidden for slaves, Douglass came to a shocking realization. “These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments…, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought… I now understood… the white man’s power to enslave the black man… From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.” The imagery in this excerpt helps discuss how deeply the words affected Douglass and how, in turn, these words allowed him to come to the most life-changing moment of his life.

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736 Words | 3 Pages

Douglass describes how his mistress used to be a good person, in the text it states, “There was no sorrow or suffering for which she not had a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. ”(Douglass 201) Douglass’ mistress would help anyone who needed or asked for help, she was a kind and generous person at this time. The reader can imagine a nice woman that at this time Douglass thought very highly of, he appreciated all her help, but his opinion of her changed when she changed. The thought of being a slave for life really effected Douglass, for example, in the text it states, “ and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart.

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1283 Words | 6 Pages

“Every tone [is] a testimony against slavery”(21) because singing is their only way of communicating their struggles. He mentions their singing to portray that they are calling out to God, or at least some assistance from a heavenly spirit. While religion gives hope to many, it does the opposite as well. Although religion plays no part in Mrs. Auld’s “cheerful eye...soon [becoming] red with rage… and [her] angelic face [giving] place to that of a demon”(32), Douglass illustrates her transformation being compared to a well-known villain of the Bible, Satan. The literary device of foiling Mrs. Auld who was an influential character (but not the protagonist) with Satan, an opponent against God, highlights the importance of Mrs. Auld.

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864 Words | 4 Pages

He starts out describing his new slave owner, Sophia Auld as “a white face beaming with the most kindly emotions; it was the face of my new mistress, Sophia Auld. I wish I could describe the rapture that flashed through my soul as I beheld it. It was a new and strange sight to me, brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness” (Ch. 5 ¶10). Douglass uses diction in “the rapture that flashed through my soul as I beheld it” to portray the effects of her gentle, compassionate personality. The word “rapture” eloquently expresses his feelings of joy and peace as he meets Mrs. Auld.

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501 Words | 3 Pages

When Mr. Auld warned Mrs. Auld of the dangers that would come about with an intelligent slave, Douglass recognized the path from slavery to freedom. “It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty – to whit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.

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629 Words | 3 Pages

This was the start of what came throughout the beginning of his life. As he continued his journey as a slave he had more horrific experiences that are intended to breakdown the slaves mentally and physically. One main example that Frederick Douglass used to show the negative effects of slavery on people were with Mrs. Sophia Auld and her change in attitude towards Douglass before and after her inception into the world of slavery. When Douglass first is sent to Baltimore to work for the family of Hugh and Sophia Auld, he is wildly excited and impressed at how well they both treated him. Neither of them had ever owned any slaves and treated him way better than he had ever been treated before.

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436 Words | 2 Pages

After spending much time with the Auld family, Douglass went to work for a new slave owner named Covey. Covey was known to break enslaved peoples’ spirits so they can be a “good” slave. The new owner did just that. All of Douglass’s hope to escape to freedom was gone. “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed…”(Pg.18 E.4)

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284 Words | 2 Pages

For Frederick, Mrs. Auld was described as a “pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman.” (Frederick) and taught the him how to read and write rather than leaving him a sense of condescending. But under the influence of slavery for some time, her tender heart became stone and finally became even more “violent in her opposition than her husband himself.” Here, the author himself not only felt inferior, but also a sense of regret that the slavery made such a kind women become a bad-tempered slave owner. As to him, the most terrible influence of slavery was not the physical harm to the slaves but the imprisonment of people's thoughts (including two aspects of the slave and the slave owner).

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410 Words | 2 Pages

Douglass begins his letter with his intent, an elaborate and formal appeal to Douglass’ real audience: readers of the North Star to bring forth the atrocities caused not only by Auld but by slavery as a whole. Throughout the letter, Douglass refers to his treatment by Auld; further driving his point that slavery is terrible and that slaves deserve the same basic rights as those who own slaves. Douglass is quick to speak about his own experience as an escaped slave and his success outside of Auld’s ownership to help solidify that point further. Douglass occasionally does this specifically to belittle and call forward Auld’s actions, even referring to himself as more intelligent (Douglass 102). Throughout the letter, Douglass’ common theme is one of anti-slavery and often directly attacks Auld’s actions.

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498 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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497 Words | 2 Pages

Douglass acquired a deep passion to educate himself and other slaves, as their slave owners fought heavily to prevent slaves from obtaining any knowledge. As a result, he comes a leader throughout the population of slaves and a “trouble maker” to the handlers. Douglass thus is moved to several different plantations, and after an agreement with his owner, Hugh Ault,

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1647 Words | 7 Pages

But, he then goes to show how her transformation came to be of a true mistress and how that kind of foolish power corrupted her. She was not a bad person, but being able to control over another human being transformed her from an angel into a demon. Douglass saw the change in her how “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon” (38). This just shows how slavery affects not just the slave but the slave owners as well. This vicious cycle desecrates and destroys everyone involved.

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812 Words | 4 Pages

Lastly, Douglass’ explains his thought on slavery and from what he says it becomes ironic. One of the ironies in the book that Douglass talks about is how religious slaves are more cruel than non-religious slaves. In chapter 9, Douglass’ master, Thomas Auld, became

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