Theme Of Frederick Douglass Awakening Sense Of Manhood

Juliana Blahous

Ms. Finigan

AP Language and Composition - A block

13 February 2023

Frederick Douglass’ Awakening Sense of Manhood

There are few figures more noteworthy and recognizable in American history than Frederick Douglass. A leading civil rights activist, writer, and orator after his escape from slavery, Douglass is revered for his advocation for the abolition of slavery and for confronting injustices imposed on African Americans. In 1845, Douglass published his famous autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which not only details Douglass’ escape from the brutal chains of slavery but also illustrates several compelling themes. One of these themes is his dawning sense of manhood and its role in Douglass’ personal

After being sent to Baltimore at a young age, Douglass began his education when his [new] mistress, Sophia Auld, began to teach him the alphabet. However, after Sophia’s husband discovered what was going on, he forbade her from offering Douglass more instruction, given that teaching an enslaved person to read was illegal. It was through his undeterred desire to pursue his education that Douglass’ ideological opposition to slavery began to form. Using the rhetorical appeal of ethos, Douglass writes, “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery.” (Douglass 34) Douglass establishes his credibility as a narrator by demonstrating how his education affected his views of himself and the world around him. In doing so, he informs the reader that he is, like any other man, refined in his ethical and philosophical views by the process of

Douglass uses the rhetorical appeal of anecdotes to detail the inner sense of pleasure and contentment he experienced when he found employment in New Bedford: “It was a happy moment, the rapture of which can be understood only by those who have been slaves.” (78) In this quote, Douglass elaborates on how many people took freedom and the ability to obtain jobs for granted because they did not experience the traumatic state of slavery the way Douglass did, and uses the word “rapture” to lure the readers into the true joy he felt after working long and hard to attain freedom. Douglass makes clear that working independently is a form of self-reliance that demonstrates one’s