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How Is Frederick Douglass Selfish

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Douglass was sent to live with Mr. Edward Covey in January 1833. Thomas Auld considered Douglass as a reluctant slave, so he sent to a slave breaker, Edward Dovey. Covey was a poor land renter who took slaves and used them to work his land while receiving training and discipline. Covey was known for his inhuman and harsh treatment of slaves. Douglass constantly thinking of freedom, so he did not follow instructions of his new master. His year with Covey was a life changing experience. Under Covey, Douglass worked the land day and night in all weathers. For the first six months he was constantly beaten and severely punished to increase his productivity. He was whipped with sticks or cow skin. Douglass experienced an “epoch in my humble history,” and explains to readers that “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” When Douglass collapsed because of ill, Covey was kicking and hitting Douglass until he was satisfied, then left Douglass bleeding on the floor. Covey successfully broke …show more content…

Covey is skilled and methodical in his physical punishment of his slaves, but he is even more skilled at psychological cruelty. Covey crushed Douglass’ intellect and any thought of happiness by making feel that he is under constant surveillance. The slaves call Covey “the snake,” because he snakes through the grass, but also this nickname is a reference to Satan’s appearance in the biblical book of Genesis. Douglass’ fight with Covey is the climax of the book because it marks Douglass’ turning point from demoralized slave to confident and freedom-seeking man. Douglass achieves this transformation by matching and containing Covey’s own violence. In addition, Douglass shows himself to be Covey’s opposite as brave man while Covey shows as a coward. Douglass could gain a new sense of empowerment, an attitude of independence, and self-determination to fight for his

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359 Words | 2 Pages

Douglas spent a year with Covey, during which he was frequently and brutally whipped. Having spent considerable time in the city, Douglass was not familiar with farm instruments and techniques. Because of this unfamiliarity, he made mistakes and was continually punished. Covey pushed his slaves to the limit, making them work long

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137 Words | 1 Pages

More evidence of objectification is shown in the murder of Demby by Mr. Gore. To escape more whipping, Demby submerges himself into a creek and refuses to come out, resulting in Mr. Gore shooting Demby in the face. Justifying the murder, Gore argues that “if one slave refused to be corrected, and escaped with his life…the result…would be freedom of the slaves.” Gore’s justification objectifies Demby’s mortality by turning it into a tool to teach the other slaves of what would happen should they disobey. Finally, Douglass tells of his own dehumanization through violence as master Covey, the “slave breaker,” beats him after becoming too weak to work.

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350 Words | 2 Pages

Frederick Douglass published two similar versions of his fight with the ‘slave-breaker’ Edward Covey in the tenth chapter of his The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, and in the seventeenth chapter of My Bondage and My Freedom. By comparing the two accounts it is possible to see an evolution of his thoughts on abolishing slavery and person hood which occurred in the years which transpired between the two works, 1845 and 1855. In the first account which Douglass wrote at around the age of 27 he narrates a physical confrontation where he refuses to allow himself to be whipped. Douglass struggles for two hours with Covey and also fights off Covey’s cousin at the same time.

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248 Words | 1 Pages

When Douglass was a child on Lloyd’s farm, he was not yet subjected to hard labor like the older slaves, and he even made friends with his master’s son, which gave him small benefits. Despite this, he was still subject to the cold and hunger, as slaves were not given proper meals or clothing. Children on the plantations were given cornmeal mush as food, and the linen clothing he was given was useless against the cold. In order to stay somewhat warm at night, Douglass stole a small back from the mill and slept with his head and upper body inside of it. When he was around seven or eight, Douglass was moved from Lloyd’s plantation to Mr. Hugh Auld, who lived in Baltimore.

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203 Words | 1 Pages

In his narrative, Frederick Douglass explained the concept of manhood by emphasizing on how one should be acknowledge with their own identities and have their own possession of clothes, shelter, and foods as well as privileges that God has given them. Manhood is an important measurement for Douglass because every man discovers, have desires, and develop passions whenever a man looks into himself or by a mirror of reflection. Throughout his journey as a slave, Douglass observed and experiment the cruciality of mankind when one has the power to take control of their subjects. From Mrs. Auld’s amazing lessons, education has helped him not only able to read and write but also understand the reasons behind slavery existence (Douglass, pg 22-23).

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734 Words | 3 Pages

While working on Covey’s farm, Douglass (1845/1995) famous orator and author of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (p.34) was put to hard work in the field for the first time in his life. After Douglass had had enough of being over-worked by Covey, Douglass wrestled with Covey after he had ran away and was told to return by Master Thomas, Frederick Douglass (1845/1995) famous abolitionist and writer of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (p.42). After beating up Coveym, Douglass (1845/1995) Proffesional orator and author of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass writes clearly: This fight with Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of manhood (p.43). Getting moved to Edward Covey’s farm gave Frederick Douglass the confidence and detirmination to be

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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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247 Words | 1 Pages

Frederick Douglass is making many different arguments in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. One that sticks out in the novel is that some slave owners would suffer just as much as a slave would. When we are first introduced to Douglass’s new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Auld, he describes Mrs. Auld as, “ […] A woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings” (Douglass, 19). When Mrs. Auld was “caught” teaching Douglas how to read and write she was then forbidden to teach him anything.

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985 Words | 4 Pages

This shows how Mr. Covey only wants his own needs fulfilled. It angers him when he doesn’t get his way. Mr. Covey is by far the weakest character in this book because he relies to much on the false power of the masters of the slaves and the harsh power of a whip. His need for power is problematic due to the fact that it makes slaves, who he already has power over, more vulnerable to his

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749 Words | 3 Pages

The life of Fredrick Douglass would be one many dread, his life consisting of mass oppression, brutal beatings, as well as discrimination; as a true representation of the evils within slavery, Douglass´s narrative causes people to reflect and pursue reform for slaves. Douglass´s first experience of evil within his forced labor began when his slave owner, who always treated him well, sold his labor to another plantation for one year owned by Mr.Covey. His first six months included worse conditions on a mass scale in comparison to his original home as a slave. The ideology Covey pursed of work till exhaustion pushed Douglass to such a negitive state of health which led to him collapsing. When Covery was informed of this matter, he preceeded

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

In life, humans have many different traits that describes themself. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass shows life a slave in the nineteenth century. In the story, Douglass brings us back in time to show his experiences of the hypocrisy of human nature. Disputes with Douglass and his masters are seen throughout the story showing both the good and bad traits of human nature. American literature of the nineteenth century reveals that human nature embodies contrasting traits such as love and cruelty through the uses of literary devices.

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301 Words | 2 Pages

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass's battle with his master Covey is a turning point in his career as a slave in that he resolves to no longer be docile and subservient as a slave. In fighting back against Covey, Douglass frees his mind from the psychological effects of slavery. Douglass's battle with Covey marks the end of Douglass being obedient and not questioning the word of authority like he was brought up to do. Douglass vows that "the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me." (Douglass, 83) By refusing the role of an obedient slave, Douglass also refuses the slave mindset and liberates himself.

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392 Words | 2 Pages

Douglass encountered multiple harsh realities of being enslaved. For example, the ex-slave was practically starved to death by his masters on multiple occasions. In fact, “[He was] allowed less than a half of a bushel of corn-meal per week, and very little else... It was not enough for [him] to subsist upon... A great many times [he had] been nearly perishing with hunger” (pg 31).

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423 Words | 2 Pages

In his story, Douglass depicts the circumstances and conditions that depict the complexities between the two terms. Douglass in like way depicts the advancement he makes from covering the slaveholder perspectives about what his personality ought to be to making his own particular unique character making. Thusly, Douglass' record delineates a mission for

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1838 Words | 8 Pages

PAGE 2 In the Narrative Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, he uses this text to explain his purpose in “throwing light on the American slave system”, or show it for what it really is, as well as show his position on how he strongly believes slavery is an issue that needs to be addressed and how it differs from those who defended slavery, with experiences from his own life to support his argument. Douglass uses experience from his early days as a young slave to throw light on the aspect of physical abuse. According to his narrative, Douglass states, “Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder.

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