Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir that was written by Frederick Douglass, a former slave. The narrative describes Frederick Douglass’s life as a slave and the events he experienced as well as his desire to be a free man. The narrative is deemed to be one of the most persuasive pieces of literature that inspired the abolitionist movement in the US during the nineteenth century.
Summary of the Narrative
In the first four chapters, the narrative describes the life of Frederick from the time he was young. The narrative begins by Frederick explaining that the date when he was born. Fredericks’ mother passed away when he was seven years old. Frederick narrates that he was few memories about his parents and believes his father was a white guy. While still young, Frederick sees his aunt being beaten. Frederick narrates the brutal interaction between the slave owners and the slaves. Also, Frederick details how the slaves lived in fear, which kept many of them.
In chapters 5 to 7, Frederick is shifted to Baltimore. The move is essential to him because he believes if he had not shifted, he would have had to live as a slave the whole of his life. Frederick even began hoping for a better life. Besides, Frederick explains how his new mistress, who first a kind lady ended up turning cruel. It was through his new mistress Sophia Auld that Frederick learns how to read. However, the mistress’ husband, Mr. Auld, stops her from teaching Frederick claiming that slaves are not supposed to be literate as they would sad and unmanageable. When Frederick hears Mr. Auld disapproving of the teaching of slaves, he recognizes the value of reading and the probability that this skill could assist him. As a result, Frederick engages in self-education and learns how to write and read.
Frederick’s masters die when he is 11 years, and his wealth divided between the master’s daughter and son. In the narrative, the slaves’ worthy is the same as that of livestock, which makes Frederick hate enslavement. Later on, Frederick is moved back to Baltimore to dwell with Mr.Hugh. There is a time Frederick regrets that he did not try to escape. Frederick, later on, went to live with Master Thomas, who is very cruel. After moving to Mr. Covey’s place, Frederick is beaten on a weakly basis due to his ineptness. At Covey’s place, Frederick is treated brutally to the extent that he collapses while on duty. On one occasion, Frederick engages in a physical fight with Mr. Covey, during which he conquers him. After one year, Frederick moves to Freeland’s plantation, whom he describes to be more favorable, unlike Covey, who was cruel. At Freeland’s plantation, Frederick teaches some slaves how to write and read, after which they plan to escape. However, Frederick is caught and taken to jail before escaping. After Frederick is released from Jail, he is taken back to Baltimore to engage in trade. At Shipyard in Baltimore, Frederick is subjected to hatred by the Whites due to his race and slave status. After Frederick’s experience at Shipyard, he gets a job and plans to escape. Frederick succeeds in escaping and reunites with his fiancée at New Bradford. Frederick becomes an abolitionist and orator at his new place, eventually escaping enslavement.
Themes
Ignorance as a Tool of Slavery
The narrative portrays how the White slaveholders maintain slavery by ensuring their slaves remain ignorant. During Douglass’ period, many individuals believed that the Blacks lacked the capacity to engage in civil society, and hence they remained as slaves for the whites. The whites used several approaches to ensure they remained powerful over their slaves. For instance, they ensured the slaves remained ignorant of essential details about themselves, such as paternity and dates of births. As a result, the children during that period were denied their sense of identity due to the imposed ignorance. Besides, the White slaveholders ensured the Black slaves remained illiterate to deny them a sense of capability and self-sufficiency.
Knowledge as the Course to Freedom
Douglass learned from Hugh Auld that knowledge is the pathway to freedom. This happened when Auld prohibited his wife from teaching Frederick how to write and read. As a result, Frederick perceived that knowledge was the tool that the Whites used to control the slaves and that its acquisition by the Blacks would enable them to free themselves. Moreover, Frederick engaged in self-education and used it as a tool to make himself free and also gaining freedom for the other slaves. It is through knowledge acquisition that the slaves expressed the injustices of enslavement and assisted them to consider themselves as men rather than slaves.
Enslavement Damaging Effects on Slave Owners
Douglass used the narrative to demonstrate how enslavement affected both the slaves and the slaveholders. The irresponsible power and corruption practiced by the slave masters a damaging impact on their moral health. The author recounts how many slaveholders engaged in rape and adultery with their slaves, siring children with their slaves. The effects of adultery included endangered the slaveholders’ family since as the holders were forced to punish or sell their children since the holders’ spouses became cruel. For instance, Sophia Auld changed and became a demon from a realistic lady due to her husband’s immorality. Frederick denotes that enslavement should be banned for the greater good of all society.
Slaveholding as a Perversion of Christianity
Furthermore, Frederick demonstrated the difference between true Christianity and false Christianity. In the narrative, Frederick referred to the true Christianity as the Christianity of Jesus and the false one as the religion of this world. Frederick denoted that Slave owners’ Christianity was used to hypothetical to demonstrate their self-righteous cruelty and that the holders lacked innate goodness. To elaborate on this distinction, Frederick demonstrated the inconsistency between peaceful and generous principles of Christianity and the violent wicked acts of the slave owners. For instance, Frederick demonstrated how Auld’s cruelty increased when he became a religious man. Auld used Christianity to justify his right to enslave other people and mistreating them. Also, Frederick demonstrated how the Southern church was corrupt since it benefitted from Thomas Auld, who acquired the money through slavery.
Symbols
White-Sailed Ships
Frederick comes across white-sailed ships traveling to Chesapeake during his first months in slavery. Douglass sees the ships as a vision to him, which he recognized as a message about his disheartened state. The ships that move North from one port to another seem to indicate freedom to enslavement to Frederick. Besides, Frederick associates the White sails as angels who are also suggesting spirituality or the freedom that one acquires through spirituality.
Sandy’s Root
Jenkins Sandy gives Frederick a root from the forest, which she believed had magical elements to protect slaves from beating. However, Frederick does not believe in magic aspects of the root and only takes it to please Sandy. In this case, Frederick denotes that Jenkins’ belief in root is irrational and showed how the slave populations are ignorant. In this case, the root is used to represent a traditional African approach to belief and religious conviction.
The Columbian Orator
Frederick first comes across the Columbia Orator when he was 12 years and had just acquired reading skills. The Columbian Orator comprises political dialogues, poems, and essays. As Frederick becomes literate, he also becomes informed about the injustice of enslavement. The Catholic emancipation speech and the slave-master dialogue assist Frederick to understand and express why slavery is wrong both politically and philosophically. This shows that the Columbian Orator has been used in the narrative to represent human rights and the power of articulation and eloquence.
Main Characters
Frederick Douglass
Frederick serves as both the protagonist and narrator. Frederick advances from an oppressed, uneducated slave to a political commentator. As a narrator, Frederick is able to see both sides of an issue, even the issue of enslavement. Frederick’s humane vision enables him to separate slave owners from the institutions that corrupted them. Besides, Frederick’s role as the narrator shows how he is capable of deep feeling. For instance, in the narrative dramatizes his tears to show emotions associated with how he and others have suffered in slavery. As a protagonist, Frederick serves as a representative of the American slave. His role in the narrative portrays the dehumanizing aspects of enslavement. Moreover, Frederick appears as a character formed negatively through enslavement and brutality and positively by knowledge and education. He also uses his literacy to enhance the lives of fellow slaves.
Sophia Auld
Sophia transforms a character throughout the narrative. Auld changed from a caring and kind lady to a brutal slaveholder. At first, Sophia is seen to be humane and realistic, especially when she had no slaves. Frederick used the character of Sophia and how she changed from being kind to cruel, with the aim of showing the negative effects of slavery on the slave owners. Besides, it is expected that Sophia would be loving and sympathetic since she is a woman. Sophia’s evil proves that the family structure is disrupted since maternal figures in the 19th century were expected to represent moral righteousness in the community. Also, Frederick used Sophia in the narrative to depict the moral problems that affect the community as a whole.
Edward Covey
Edward Covey is very cruel and a natural evil man. He finds an outlet for his brutality in slave-owning. Edward is skilled in imposing physical and psychological punishment on his slaves. Besides, Edward uses deception as a primary strategy of dealing with the slaves. He lies to slaves to make them feel the under they are continuous supervision as he aimed to catch them being lazy. Also, Edward is portrayed as a snake in the narrative showing how brutal and anti-Christian he is. Frederick describes Edward as a false Christian who tries to deceive God, but his deeds present him as a sinner.