Dehumanization In Frederick Douglass

It was a most terrible spectacle.” This allows for Douglass to convey the severity of slavery onto his audience and poses the argument that the brutality slaveholders impose upon their slaves as they mercilessly beat them are best representative of the cruelty Douglass and his aunt feel as they are shackled to the despondent chains of slavery. By providing Douglas’ first-hand reactions to witnessing the physical abuse of his aunt and other slaves, he elaborates on slavery’s potential to crush the morale of those on the receiving end of violence and suggests the potency of force by alluding to its embodiment of “the entrance to hell of slavery.” Towards the end of the chapter, Douglass provides further details of his master’s cruelty by utilizing a series of declarative sentences. The declarative sentences emphasize his master’s cruelty by providing heinous details of the injustices Douglass witnesses as they are inflicted upon his fellow slaves, and subtly hints at his master’s abhorrent capacity for violence. Douglas, in portraying the horrific endeavors of a black slave serves the purpose of proving his overlying

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass explains, in great detail, how slave master would use a variety of methods to dehumanize slaves located on their plantation. These methods involved both severe physical and psychological trauma. Nevertheless, Douglass remains diligent and finds a way to resist the harsh reality of being a slave. Because of his immovable desire to acquire knowledge to his fighting encounter with Mr. Covey, these experiences help shape Douglass to be the archetype of what it means to go from slavery to freedom. This essay will highlight the physical and psychological tactics used on slaves. In addition, the aspect of how Douglass resists the

Douglass uses vivid imagery to depict the gruesome and ungodly nature of slavery. For example, in chapter six, Douglass describes the death of his grandmother “…She stands-she sits-she staggers-she falls-she groans-she dies-and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death…” (59) This quote helps the reader imagine the grandmothers death and how helpless she felt. The fact that the slaveholders made it impossible for her children to be there when she died, contributes to the inhumane image Douglass has already been painting throughout the

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.

Frederick Douglass focuses mostly on appealing emotionally to pathos through the use of imagery. He writes, “there were no beds given the slaves, unless one coarse blanket be considered such.” He again appeals to pathos when describing the eating portions. Douglass explains the eating troughs used for children and says “few left the trough satisfied.” Douglass illustrates the cruel conditions slaves faced, from the bare sleeping quarters to the harsh whippings received. This effects the reader by helping them visualize the conditions the slaves were placed in. He chose to do this to inform those who weren’t aware of what was happening inside the gated properties. Douglass next establishes credibility through the use of ethos. He begins his narrative by giving background information and stating that he has “no accurate knowledge” of his age. Douglass implies that he can be trusted because of his own personal experience.

Dehumanization occurs when human qualities are taken away from a person and treated like they are just an object, nothing more. Dehumanization happens throughout the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and the documentaries that were shown in class: “Rise Up: The Legacy of Nat Turner" and "Emancipation Road." Slavery shows how a dehumanization of people from from long ago continues to impact our current and past society.

Dehumanizing is the to be deprived of human qualities or attributes. Throughout Frederick Douglass’s Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, Douglass did a excellent job with showing how many people in the 1800s were dehumanized. During the 1800s slavery was widely spread through the Southern states, like Maryland where Douglass was born. Douglass was born into slavery and was a former impassioned abolitionist, writer, and orator. Douglass wrote how slavery had impacted African Americans, but also had impacted their white masters. Douglass showed that slavery dehumanized both the slave and the slaveholder.

Slavery has been a heavily encourages and practiced in the American society. From poor white farmers to supporter of abolishing slavery has seen it with their eyes. They all know that what they were doing to the African American slave was wrong. Slavery transformed the way society sees their life and liberty. In order to truly understand the impacts that slavery had on American society was to be a slave yourself. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and fighter for freedom wrote his book based on his experience of being a slave. He was an African American who taught himself how to read write and gain more knowledge to learn that he was a worthy living human. With his autobiography, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American slave written by himself, Douglass protected his experience by using different tones and styles to capture the reader's mind and show an example of what a slave had to face.

As a young child, Frederick Douglass was introduced to the acts of violence towards the slaves including the all too common whippings. He says, “I have often been awakened at the down of day by the most heart-rendering shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.” One could only imagine the horrid pictures that slaves would have seen on a daily basis of other slaves nearly being beaten to death by their masters. For the black children growing up on the plantation, the master was seen to be a man of great power and not to be taken lightly. This was exactly

The Dehumanization Process in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave

When Douglass was a young boy, he witnessed for the first time a slave getting whipped, Douglass's first encounter was of extreme cruelty that slaveholders can have. The slave receiving the whipping is Douglass' Aunt Hester. By witnessing this Douglass sees that slaves are treated no better than animals, they lived in continuous fear of being beaten if they did not behave. The issue of freedom is here as well. Do these animals have more freedom then themselves, it seems so. The slave owners dehumanized the slaves with the power of the whip, showing the horrors of traditional slavery and property they have over slaves.

Furthermore, Douglass also had to experience Physical Abuse towards him or to other slaves. As an example Douglass witness physical abuse towards his Aunt Hester when he was young. According to the text ''He commenced to lay on the heavy cow skin and soon the warm red blood come dripping to the floor'' (chapter 1 paragraph 10). Douglass relies how horrifying the abuse slaves get if they disobey their masters and he feared that he might get whipped and he knew that his master wouldn't care about his age. Another example of Physical Abuse is when he was older and his new master who is called Mr. Servere who abuses anybody who doesn't listen him. According to the text '' I have seen him whipping a woman causing the blood to run half an hour and

Firstly, Douglass conveys dehumanization through metaphors and compares the treatment of the slaves like the treatment of animals. One of his cruel owners, Mr. Covey, used slaves as animals in multiple ways. The most significant way it happened was through how in the book, Mr. Covey “breeds” his slaves similar to how an animal breeder breeds animals. Douglass says, “Mr. Covey was a poor man; he was just commencing in his life; he was only able to buy one slave; and, shocking as is the fact, he brought her, as he said for a breeder” (Douglass 37). This is an example of a double entendre.

Imagine that a slave is released from bondage after he is enslaved his entire life. The values and cognition of a slave will undoubtedly be different from that of an average person who has never been exposed to slavery. Slavery has an impactful toll on those that are enslaved and treated so brutally. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass exhibits the repercussions of slavery. Slavery dehumanizes both slaves and their slave owners because of the abuse of power and injustice that slaveowners and slaves witness everyday.

Douglass also carves the vivid picture of dehumanization into the reader's minds when he writes about the whippings slaves endure. When Douglass is a young boy, he witnesses for the first time a slave getting whipped, "he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back entirely naked. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook." Douglass hides in a closet, thinking that he would be the next victim. This is Douglass's first encounter with the extreme cruelty of slaveholders. "She now stood fair for his infernal purpose...after soon 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" (Douglass 42). As it turns out, the slave