In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Frederick Douglass demonstrates pathos through striking imagery and simile to accentuate the heinous living conditions of slaves which persuades the audience that slavery must be abolished.
Douglass directs the somewhat "good" in being a slave to appease the audience. He publishes the first primary account of being a slave and exposes white men. He flees to England to avoid being captured and punished for his actions. Even though it is hard to think about slaveowners being good people, he writes "It seemed only about half as long as the year which preceded it. I went through it without receiving a single blow. I will give Mr. Freeland the credit of being the best master I
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Douglass recalls, "Her [Aunt Hester's] arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. He then said to her, 'Now, you d——d b—-h, I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!' and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor" (46). Douglass' use of cogent imagery disseminates a feeling of remorse towards the woman. Another example is of Douglass' grandmother who is left abandoned in the middle of the woods to die; she serves her entire life to a family, yet no one feels any sorrow when she is deserted. Douglass writes, “...she dies—and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death, or to place beneath the sod her fallen remains" (121). Douglass accentuates the inhuman nature of slaveowners and draws profound poignancy from readers through imagery. Withal, it leads to a found antipathy towards slavery, convincing the audience that it should be