No one had advanced faster than Frederick Douglass during the era of self-made man in American. He defied the laws of Maryland by learning how to read and write, after all Frederick owner’s wife was his teacher along with other Caucasian children (Fonder, 395). Fredrick’s life would be different from slaves, he worked as a skill craftsman and a house servant before working the field of a plantation. So, Fredrick Douglass soon faced many floggings to break his self-determine and free spirit. Instead of oppressing his spirit, Fredrick became more determine to pursue a new career.
“I often found myself regretting my own existence and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed” (p.121). From his learning, Douglass realized that his life will not be like the men he reads about books. Douglass started to see education as a curse and less of a
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
Douglass often expressed his opinions in his books. He stated, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free” (Douglass Narrative of the Life... 61). This quote highlights Douglass's view on the significance of education. Douglass believed that education could fight the mental struggles of slavery. He has a liberating worldview and emphasizes the importance of knowledge.
Frederick Douglass’s quest for truth and meaning in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass depicts the link between knowledge and freedom. As a slave, Frederick Douglass was abused by his masters and restricted from any notion of learning truth. However, his slaveholder’s wife tried to teach him how to read. When her husband discovered this, he became extremely upset and informed her that by teaching a slave how to read, he would no longer want to be a slave. Frederick realized that the perpetuation of slavery was enforced through ignorance; knowledge and truth would be the means to his freedom.
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.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass places a tone of someone who is emotionally overcome by struggles to free himself, mentally and physically, from slavery. The issue focused on is when Douglass overhears his master stating, “if you teach a nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him”; he begins to suspect that if slaves managed to educate themselves, it would be impossible to stop them from becoming free, therefore, acknowledging that education is slavery’s damaging effect on slaveholders but more importantly, slavery exists not because the masters are better than their slaves, but because they keep their slaves ignorant. Subsequently, what his master dreaded, is what he desired the most and with that he recognizes knowledge
Because of this, he successfully creates a contrast between what the slave owners think of and treat the slaves and how they are. Douglass says that slave’s minds were “starved by their cruel masters”(Douglass, 48) and that “they had been shut up in mental darkness” (Douglass, 48) and through education, something that they were deprived of, Frederick Douglass is able to open their minds and allow them to flourish into the complex people that they are. By showing a willingness to learn to read and write, the slaves prove that they were much more than what was forced upon them by their masters.
The autobiographical novel detailing Frederick Douglass’ life as a slave, titled The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave gave insight into the idea that obtaining knowledge does, in fact, prompt one to strive for more. Ecclesiastes, one of 24 books in the Tanakh, challenges this notion: “For in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow” (Ecclesiastes). Based on the writings and experiences of Douglass, it can instead be concluded that with knowledge brings more self-worth as well as a higher understanding of oneself. The acquirement of important life skills, such as learning how to read, will undoubtedly incline a person to use their newfound comprehension to obtain more knowledge.
Furthermore, Education opened Douglass’s eyes to the reality of his injustice as a slave; thus, compelling him to action as he recalls, “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. ”(Douglass, 2014, p.133) Education caused Douglass heartache. While attaining his education benefited Douglass, he could not relate to his fellow slaves. The fellow slaves had the ability to remain content with their current state of being since it was all they had ever known. Douglass knew otherwise and longed for the forbidden life as a free man, as it changed from an unattainable idea into an achievable
With all the knowledge he was gaining, he began to comprehend everything around him. The things he was learning fascinated him, but the “more [he] read, the more [he] was led to abhor and detest [his] enslavers”(Douglass 35); however, that should not be viewed as a negative affect but a positive one. No one should want to be deceived for their entire life. This hatred that he built up motivated him to continue to further educate himself. As a result, he later motivated other slaves to earn an education by having “[availed] themselves to [an] opportunity to learn to read” (Douglass 69) by Douglass teaching them every Sunday.
In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, education is a means to escape the conditions of slavery. Douglass's transition from illiteracy to scholarly freedom from mental
Douglass realizes in the narrative that he must educate himself in order to gain his freedom from the outside oppression and from his inside thoughts. The idea that education is the means to freedom is a major theme in this Narrative. Contrarily, later in his story, Douglass’s unhappiness shows that education does not directly bring freedom because his new consciousness of injustice has setbacks; he realizes that intellectual freedom is not the same as physical freedom. Though the Narrative treats knowledge as the means to freedom, Douglass realizes his transformation from slave to free man in his major acts of violence. Douglass regains his internal spirit, desire to learn, and conviction to be free by physically fighting against his oppressor and slave-owner, Covey.
An education often opens new doors for people, but how does a lack of an education affect other people? What causes such a stark difference between people with knowledge and people no knowledge at all? In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass an American Slave we can see that Douglass is more intelligent than the other slaves on the plantation he is living on due to his hidden ability to read. With his level of education, he is able to see the brutal mistreatment of slaves and is unable to look at things the same way when he was an uneducated slave. The slaves on the plantation do not know how to read and therefore do not view being a slave the way Douglass views it.
Douglass is always curious and he never gives up even when he finds several obstacles in his way, because he perfectly knows what his goal is: he needs an education to get his freedom. He is determined to get it even though it requires a lot of hard work. Douglass is sure of the potential of education. As a matter of fact he knows well that knowlegde can change his life while leading him to freedom. Douglass has both the motivation and the determination because he is aware that owing to education he can get to great places in his life, and that education makes the world a better place
