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Slavery In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

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Some forms of slavery are not as obvious as other kinds of slavery. In Frederick Douglass’ The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, slavery is apparent and the slaves were well informed of their servitude. However, in Mary Shelley’s Brave New World the people in the World State were unknowingly enslaved by their leaders. The consciousness of slavery is the major difference between these two examples of slavery. On the other hand, there are many similarities between the slavery in these two books. Slaves in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Brave New World have little to no relationship with their parents, are bred by their leaders, and are disposed of if they cause problems. Breaking parental bonds between slaves is a common technique used to ensure that the slaves do not unify and rebel against their leader. African-American slaves in the United States were often taken away from their …show more content…

Frederick Douglass discusses this topic in his narrative writing, “If a slave was convicted of any high misdemeanor, became unmanageable, or evinced a determination to run away, he was brought immediately here, severely whipped, put on board the sloop, carried to Baltimore, and sold to Austin Woolfolk, or some other slave-trader, as a warning to the slaves remaining” (Douglass 8). African-American slaves were often beaten, and sometimes killed if they upset their owners. Other times the slaves were sold to a different owner, so their improper behavior would not influence other slaves. In Brave New World, the leaders did not physically punish their people, but they did exile those who caused trouble. Helmholtz and Bernard were exiled from the World State because they were involved in a riot among the people. This is an example of the leaders banishing a few people to prevent the spread of bad behavior. Punishment is a major part of leaders keeping order among their

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Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.

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“Gone, gone, sold and gone” (qtd. Douglass 349) illustrates how the slaves how slaves were compared to live stock in America. Slavery was abolished about one hundred fifty years ago, but it is important to not forget the history surrounding it. Even though some people don’t understand the hardships that blacks in slavery faced, it is helpful to read slave narratives. Slave Narratives were either written by slaves, or with assistance from white abolitionist, as an effort to end slavery. Abolitionists wanted to illuminate the horrors that slaves experienced.

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In his book The Narrative of the Life of Frederic Douglass the author attempts to show the negative effects of slavery to the white readers in the North. In his account Douglass shows how slavery is not only dehumanizing the slaves but also the slaveholders themselves. The detrimental effects of the slavery system are shown as early as Douglass’s childhood. His father being white, and the master of the boy’s mother, is encouraged by the power he holds not only to break maternal bonds between a mother and her child, but also to personally distance himself from his own so flesh and blood so much as to whip them or sell them off. This done either out of economic interest or out of deference for his wife.

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Slave owners knew that if their slaves had emotional attachment to each other it would hinder the work ethic of the said slave. We see an example of this when Douglass first talks about his ‘childhood’. Douglass writes “My mother and I were seperated when I was but an infant- before I knew her as my mother. It was a common custom to part children from their mothers at a very early age” (2 Douglass). Through this process the slave owner takes away such a natural and what you would think as a god given gift.

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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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This semester, our class has read multiple stories that in some way relate to slavery. When people hear the word slave, they typically think of the Africans that were forced to do labor. But, there isn’t just one single type of slavery. Some forms of slavery are forced labor, human trafficking, arranged marriage, addictions, and even mental illness.

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Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

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Years A Slave) Douglass explains a different way families were broken apart when he writes “Mulatto children favors which he withholds from his black slaves. The master is frequently compelled to sell this class of his slaves … to sell his own children to human flesh-mongers, it is often the dictate of humanity for him to do so; for, unless he does this, he must not only whip them himself, but must stand by and see one white son tie up his brother …” Douglases quote displays how slavery dehumanizes everyone involved in slavery. A mulatto child is the child of the slave and a white man or enslaver but because of slavery this family broke apart as this child now is now fighting against their own family to survive. Family and one's parental responsibility is a part of a family's humanity which is always crushed by the stresses and norms slavery brought to

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1. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave”- Douglass was determined to read and he did not use not knowing his mom and dad an excuse to be lazy. 2. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” – Using her characters, Stowe displays how a mother should love their child in her characters. 3.

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People today think slavery is a thing of the past, instead what if I said slavery still happens today. According to Global Citizen, the total slave estimation is 18,354,700 in India, that’s 1.4% percent of the population. India has different types of slavery, such as Agriculture, bonded labor, domestic work, and sex work. This is a problem because people are supposed to learn from their mistakes, but instead we are repeating the past. Frederick Douglass was a part of slavery, in the book Narrative of life of Frederick Douglass he was constantly held back by people of different color.

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After the punishment, they were carried to Baltimore and sold to a slave tracker or to Austin Woolfolk to warn other slaves that this will happen to you if you do the same thing. “If a slave was convicted of any high misdemeanor, became unmanageable, or evinced a determination to run away, he was brought immediately, here, severely whipped, put on board the sloop, carried to Baltimore and sold to Austin Woolfolk, or some other slave-tracker , as a warning to the slaves remaining.”(Douglass,1845) Slave owners were very careful and always had eyes on the slaves. “Slave owners observed every move, every motion slaves made. ”(melyjanex.blogspot.com,2011)

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In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Douglass presented his life as a slave and the hardships he endured. He exposed the cruelties he faced throughout his time as a slave. He also shows how slavery affected everyone involved. Not just the slaves were negatively affected, but the slaveholders also were. He showed how slavery inflicted its hold on their social life, their family life, and their religious life.

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You have probably thought that slavery was bad but you have no idea how bad it actually was. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a Autobiography by Frederick Douglass, his purpose of the story was to expose the real darkness of a slavery. Douglass was a slave before and he has gone through a lot of pain during those times. Douglass’ position on slavery was that slavery was terrible for slaves & that it corrupts the slave owners because the slave owners dehumanized other slaves, the slaves were treated inhumanely and were broken mentally. People believe that slavery is good for the slave owners and for the slaves, on the other hand Frederick Douglass believes that slavery corrupts the slave owners.

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In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass reveals his life as a slave and the valuable lessons he learned from his experience. Douglass wants the truth about slavery to be revealed and wants to eliminate the lies that portray slavery as beneficial. Douglass exposes the reality of slavery by criticizing the “romantic image” of slavery, showing the intellectual capabilities slaves had, and revealing the reasons why slaves were disloyal to each other. Douglass criticizes the southern, romantic image of slavery by exposing the harsh treatment and sadness that slaves endured. It was southerners who thought slavery as beneficial, because it benefited themselves and white society.

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After escaping slavery and seeking freedom in the North, former slaves would often write their testimonies of the cruel life on the southern plantations. One of the best and most recognizable examples of this genre is “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” whose author, Frederick Douglas, became an important figure not only in literature but also in history of fighting for civil rights. He was born into slavery and raised by the grandparents because his mother was assigned to work in a field far away and was not allowed to stay with her son. Life at the plantation was full of abuse and cruelty, which he could witness from a young age by seeing his aunt being whipped. He described slaves’ fear of their masters that often took pleasure in punishing and whipping their property; the hardships of fieldwork where blacks would work all day with only few breaks for meals or how the owners were impregnating black women in order for them to produce more, free laborers.

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