Similarities Between Alexie And Frederick Douglass

The Learning Process of Sherman Alexie and Frederick Douglass

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence,” as Abigail Adams vocalizes. This statement clearly and effectively represents the devotion one must have to succeed in an educational standpoint. The same devotion was endeavored when both, Sherman Alexie and Frederick Douglass were conquering the process of learning to read and write. Given their ancestral ethics it was a completely different path that delivered both men to the place they are now. As each lived two divergent lives, there are two completely distinct aspects of the mental devotion each had to overcome given their ancestral ethics. Each had to overcome and achieve

Douglass was born into slavery, to say the least. He recalls early in life his mistress treating him as if he was an actual human being. Douglass claims, “She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach” (Douglass 130). He describes his mistress as a loving and caring. His mistress did not see him as chattel, or property. She had taught him the alphabet and by doing this she had given him the inch, and nothing could stop Douglass from taking the ell (Douglass 130). By giving Douglass that tiny piece of education, it gave him the hunger to learn to read and write. His mistress is whom he owes all of his accomplishments to. Without that tiny boost of knowledge, he probably would never have even gained that hunger to learn. Later on, Douglass was intrigued with reading. His mistress would grow extremely angered when she would find him with a book or newspaper (Douglass 130). As Douglass would run to town to complete his errands assigned to him, he would come across some poor white children. He recalls, “As many as these as I could, I converted into teachers” (Douglass 130). He strived to learn so much that he bribed the poor white children with bread from his mistress's house. With the bread, the poor white children would teach Douglass everything they knew. This is yet another group of individuals whom he owes his achievements to. Without their help, he probably would have never learned to read and write. As time went on, Douglass wanted to challenge himself. He would go down to Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard and watch as the workers write down on the lumber where it was to go (Douglass 133). After studying and revising what to write, he decided to challenge the workers. By challenging the workers and using their pride as their fatal flaw, he was able to prove his knowledge and know that it was time to