Human Nature In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

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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. Frederick Douglass uses point of view to show the love that one embodies. Point of view is used to show the love his mother had for him even from being separated. In the story, Douglass talks about being separated from his mother and father as a child. He barely had seen his mother to really know her and was able to only at night. She travelled at night from another farm to see him and be there when he would sleep. Douglass says, “I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in durations, and at night.[...] She made her journeys to see me in the night, travelling the whole distance on foot, after the performance of her day’s work. She was with me at night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone”(Douglass 3). Point of view is used to show that Douglass as a child not knowing his