To make matters worse, on top of the workload, they had to withstand many different multitudes of torture and pain given to them if their work was not finished properly or if they lagged behind. Another part that I found most interesting about this chapter were the sections in which they described the slave to slave-masters relationship as anything but hostile. On many occasions it was explained that slaves were treated as children, which though I realize is very demeaning in some instances, still surprised me, especially in Frederick Douglass’s case. His first masters wife, Sophia Auld, truly seemed to look at him and, at least in the beginning, even treated him as one of her own. It’s possible that this friendliness was due to the fact that Frederick was most likely the product of a slave and her own husband, but it still baffled me.
Throughout the book, Douglass shares his experiences to show how the white slave owners abused the bible. The slave owners who participated in religious activities were the ones who treated slaves the worst. Douglass had a slave owner named Mr. Auld who possessed cruel, hypocritical characteristics. Mr. Auld was a discriminative man that did not allow his slaves to have a freedom of religion. During Douglass’s time with Mr. Auld, Douglass attended a Sabbath school which taught slaves how to read the bible.
First Douglass writes about his relatives who were still being held by his old master. He begs Thomas Auld to tell him how they are doing and set them free. However, this is not enough so he asks his master how he would "look upon me, were I, some dark night, in company with a band of hardened villains, to enter the precincts of your elegant dwelling, and seize the person of your own lovely daughter, Amanda, and carry her … make her … compel her … place her … disregard her … feed her … and so on" (105). This is an important rebuttal which asks not only his master, but oppressors in general to imagine the reverse, where they are the ones being treated like that. It allows them to think about what it would be like were they in the same position as Frederick Douglass and his fellows.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave and famous abolitionist, wrote My Bondage and My Freedom in order to prove he was a slave before being an amazing orator and also to prove the power knowledge has when it is used precisely. Originally, Mrs. Auld thinks Douglass deserves to be able to read just like her son. Mrs. Auld later becomes “violent in her opposition” to Douglass’ reading because her husband puts her in “check” (Douglass 521). The author uses his words to appeal to the ethos of the audience by creating a seemingly kind and innocent perspective of Mrs. Auld and later completely reversing it.
In this passage Frederick Douglass describes his grandmother, using her as an allegory to represent slavery and the hearts of the people enraptured by it. Depicted in his words, is the presentation of slavery as a whole, drawn together by his grandmother’s end, which he considers to be the deepest conviction of the “infernal character of slavery”. In the passage he claims that the experience has fueled his hatred for slaveholders and their cruel ingratitude, capturing the attention of the readers. Through his clever use of rhetorical devices and language composition, Douglass conveys the cruelty of slaveholders.
The next criticism presented is the callousness of the slaveholder. A characteristic of sterilized emotions that is consistent among many slaveholders. Perhaps an instance of sympathy—of human kindness—would only result in making the practice unbearable. Yet compassion is not lost on many northerners who bear witness to such wicked behavior. Yet it is Jacobs and Douglass's experiences that bear witness to such vindictiveness, institutionalized and reinforced through the culture.
After explaining Auld’s origin as a slave owner, he goes on to say that “adopted slaveholders are the worst.” What Douglass meant by this is that people who come into possession of slaves didn't know how to use their power properly, and being newly thrusted into a position of power, became extremely cruel and unkind. New slave owners felt that they had to exert power forcefully to assert their dominance and to show that they can't be walked over. These “adopted slaveholders” were the worst because they created an environment in which slaves had to walk on eggshells as their masters would be cruel one minute and cowardly the next. Auld enforced his rules either rigidly or lax; at times he spoke with the “firmness of Napoleon,” at other times, he could be “mistaken for an inquirer who had lost his way.”
“Every tone [is] a testimony against slavery”(21) because singing is their only way of communicating their struggles. He mentions their singing to portray that they are calling out to God, or at least some assistance from a heavenly spirit. While religion gives hope to many, it does the opposite as well. Although religion plays no part in Mrs. Auld’s “cheerful eye...soon [becoming] red with rage… and [her] angelic face [giving] place to that of a demon”(32), Douglass illustrates her transformation being compared to a well-known villain of the Bible, Satan. The literary device of foiling Mrs. Auld who was an influential character (but not the protagonist) with Satan, an opponent against God, highlights the importance of Mrs. Auld.
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.
However, these feelings induced by Mrs. Auld soon turn to hatred and remorse as “the fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that
“Letter to My Master, Thomas Auld” explores Frederick Douglass’ view of slavery and Thomas Auld, his former slave master, in a smart and emotionally charged letter originally written in 1848 and published in the abolitionist newspaper North Star. Throughout the letter, Douglass uses his own experience as a slave to drive his views, often using sarcasm and a dark recognition of his trials to drive his own view of slavery; that slavery should be abolished and that it is inhumane and cruel. Douglass’ decision to publish this paper in the North Star allowed him to bring to light his experiences to push other readers of the newspaper towards an abolitionist stand point by bringing his first-hand accounts of slavery forward and explaining, at times
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.
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.
However, Douglass was much like the mother’s defiant son in his disregard of Auld’s warnings. Through the help of boys around his neighborhoods whom he paid using bread, he was able to learn how to read (Douglass, 333). He later learned how to write and begin considering the “thought of my [his] own soul” and expressing these thoughts (Douglass, 334). Douglass’s mistress, Mrs. Auld, gave him, “the inch” that would lead to “the ell” and now there was no turning back. With every bit of knowledge gained and every book read Douglass states, “I [Douglass] was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” (Douglass, 334) and Mr. Auld’s warnings grew more valid by the
Dehumanization of both slaves and slave owners must occur for slavery to exist. Slavery harms everyone involved, including the slaveholders who superficially seem to profit from the arrangement. Douglass’s narrative acknowledges the damage inflicted on both sides of the institution of slavery, emphasizing that a human being’s personality and disposition form per the laws and socially acceptable practices exhibited within the society. Douglass has an excellent example how he seen with his own eyes how his mistress became demonized when she became an owner of a slave. Douglass became Mrs. Auld's first salve owner and at the begging when they first met “she [was] of the kindest heart and finest feelings” (38).
