The story “ Battle with Mr. Covey “ basically talks about Frederick Douglass life as an slave. It also talks about the things he had to go through and see. He also witnessed that he saw and he stated that it was the lowest point in his life. Douglass went through a lot of beatings that he got from Mr. Covey. This relates to his life because it helps us understand what he really went through as becoming an slave.
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.
…This knowledge opened my eyes to the horrible pit…Once awakened by the silver trump of knowledge. Liberty...”. After finishing the book, which shed light on freedom, Douglass’s fire is lit. The speeches and dialogues anger him but also push him to realize that liberty is something he could have and something he
Both King and Douglass were advocating for the same thing: their constitutional sanction of freedom. Both men, in their respective letters touch upon parallel thoughts and beliefs that revolve around the much bigger topic of racial inequality and discrimination. Both men were discriminated against and they talk about their experiences and plight in their very distinctive yet special styles. Born in the year 1817, in an era of open and unashamed slave trade, Frederick Douglass’s story begins as a serf to Mrs. Hugh in the city of Maryland.
Douglass managed to overcome the maltreatment of his wretched slave owners through the eventual attainment of freedom. The injustice imposed upon the African-American slaves by their owners was the crux of Douglass’s motivation to escape this inhumane life. Adolescents in today’s society could use Frederick’s determination as an example of moving forward to better oneself or one’s situation regardless of
“No,” thought I, “ you need not; for you will come off worse than you did before (Douglass, 2). This quote, along with this incident, was one of the major turning points in the life of Frederick Douglass . This battle was really important for Frederick because it gave him full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death. It gave him self- confidence and determination of being free. ( Douglass ,2).Frederick finally felt like he could stand up for himself and how he could help others.
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
Frederick Douglass once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, he tells his story on enslavement and the journey to freedom. Part of this journey includes Douglass’s escapades of learning to read and write as well as his fight and victory over his slaveholder Mr. Covey. Learning to read and write and his victory over Mr. Covey were significant in Douglass’s journey to freedom because they bestowed an original determination and clarity to escape upon him, and brought his fiery desire to escape back when it was once burnt out. Learning to read and write was a significant moment because it made Frederick Douglass clear on the realization that he needed to escape, and was determined to do so.
At last, Douglass brings the point of freedom and justice the one person has every right to him than any other, and no man has the authority to rule over
Long before Martin Luther King Jr. stood before the American people and gave his powerful “I Have A Dream” speech, slaves braved the consequences of racism in the United States for over a century. Slaves underwent tremendous hardships, most of the time with no opportunity for escape. However, Frederick Douglass, a man born into slavery displayed courage, intelligence and racial pride throughout his life to eventually escape the nightmare that was slavery. Douglass used an extraordinary amount of courage to administrate and successfully carry out his escape. His aptitude and leadership abilities also greatly impacted the abolitionist movements of his time.
In order to make progress from the oppression upon the black community, Douglass advocates for people to take a stand on the struggle for freedom. Douglass implies that the people will have to fight for freedom by voicing their opinions. Douglass incorporates examples from slaves in other places that have overcome their oppressors in hopes of making it more evident that, indeed, there is a way out of oppression. The idea is that it must be done so by action and not merely by letting others take it upon them . It will not be an easy task, but it has to start off by recognizing that there is a problem.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is Douglass’s own account of his life as a slave, from birth on a rural plantation, to servitude in urban Baltimore, and at last to freedom in upstate New York. As was the case with many slave children, the date of Douglass’s birth is unknown though it is thought to be around 1817, soon after, he loses his mother, while his father is thought to be his master, Captain Anthony. By seven years old, he was given to his master’s son-in-law’s brother in Baltimore. Here Douglass experiences much more freedom, he even has the chance to learn to read, through which Douglass learns how to think and recognises the evils of slavery. When another master deems him ‘unmanageable,’ he is sent to Edward Covey, a particularly
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.
Douglass argues in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, although one may had escaped slavery, freedom is yet difficult for one to truly achieve. Freedom is a complex process in which it may be perceived as being comforting, immediately after one reaches the state, but this may not always be the case. Douglass clarifies his position regarding his first hand experience in achieving freedom, as he explains, “In writing to a dear friend, immediately after my arrival at New York, I said I felt like one who had escaped a den of hungry lions. This state of mind, however, very soon subsided; and I was again seized with a feeling of great insecurity and loneliness” (Douglass 92). Douglass finally obtained the long desired freedom and through this, he
The Spirit of Life Freedom isn’t free, it’s an appealing mind concept. The human spirit is never free until the quality of oneself gain the strength to make it through every obstacle thrown at them. Frederick Douglass taught us to express the things that no one failed to mention within slavery. He had to master the negativity that dealt within him and the enslavement of all African American. In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass uses his own personal experiences, a theme of identity and self-discovering.
