Frederick Douglass Response

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an enticing tale of Douglas as he changes from slave to man. Near the beginning of the book, his first witness of a whipping reveals the entrance to the horrors that would come throughout his experience with enslavement. “No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim…” (4) it displays the physical, emotional, and spiritual breaking of an individual; powerful words to create an understanding of the terror of slavery. Beating into absolute submission strikes a sense of sadness, pity, justice in the reader that encourages them to see slavery in a different light. Throughout his narrative he continues to attack these points to encourage similar feelings of pity and acknowledgement “to enlighten white readers about both the realities of slavery as an institution and the humanity of black people as individuals deserving of full human rights.”. Douglas is keen in his choice of scenes as he is able to advocate the rights of African Americans. He advocates African

He makes it clear that the actions that are performed by the slaveholders contradict the testament that they live so much for. Intending to target the more faithful Christian audience, Douglas remarks the character known as Captain Thomas Auld for his hypocrisy. “Master Thomas was one of the many pious slaveholders who hold slaves for the very charitable purpose of taking care of them” (33). This sentence holds much ambiguity – double meanings – to the words and description of Thomas. “Pious,” “charitable,” and “taking care,” all hold connotations of caring, loving. However, Douglass’s sarcastic tone, is purposeful in that he is mocking the use of Thomas’s religious sanctum to guarantee that the actions he performs is righteous. Any truly faithful Christian would be taken aback by Captain Thomas’s character and would question themselves and maybe even their own