How Does Violence Influence American Literature

After about nine chapters detailing his slave life, he says, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” (Douglass, 75) He then goes on to describe the turning point for him that sparked his quest for freedom. By structuring his narrative this way, he reveals both sides- how slavery broke him “in body, soul, and spirit” (Douglass, 73) and how it eventually “rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom” within him (Douglass, 80). In doing so, he gives the reader an insight into how he became himself, and reinforces the evils of slavery in the way it shapes a man’s life. Douglass’ use of diction and structure effectively persuades the reader of the barbarity and inhumanity that comes as a result of slavery.

In lines 18-32, Douglass describes what was an abnormality in those times- a white woman (his master’s wife) taking pity on him, and teaching him to read and write. Douglass’s juxtaposition of his master’s wife’s attitude toward him- which was one of a “pious, warm and tender-hearted” nature, to the way the rest of society perceived him as a “mere chattel” helped highlight just how abnormal her behavior was. This contrast further developed through the fact that to treat a slave as a human being back in those days was “not only wrong, but dangerously so,” yet despite that commonplace assertion found all throughout life back then, his master’s wife still treated Douglass no different than she would treat a friend. This section of the text elaborated upon her kind-hearted nature, which led her to pity and help those worse off than her, no matter how society perceived it. Douglass emphasized this point by using mostly long, well constructed sentences that were filled with figurative language. This syntax helped elaborate upon the tone of newfound hope in this section, by demonstrating his flowing thoughts and feelings, due to his newfound freedoms. This syntax helped emphasize the fact that Douglass had acquired the very knowledge slave owners sought to keep from him, therefore acquiring the power that had been kept from him his whole life.

Frederick Douglass weaves powerful and effective syntax throughout his narrative to show the way slavery can impact someone’s mental and emotional being. Firstly, Douglass employs rhetorical questions in order to reveal his inner turmoil. In asking the questions, “Is there any God? Why am I a slave?” Douglass allows the reader to see how at the time, he was at his breaking point and at a desperate period in his life. He begged to know the answer to these questions because he didn’t understand why he was suffering while others were thriving. By allowing the reader to peer into Douglass’s mental state, the reader can understand the wave of emotions he underwent due to the nature of slavery; it can be inferred that it greatly changes a person,

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

This sentence from his autobiography explains very clearly how putting him and other slaves into slavery messed with their brains, making them feel suicidal and dolorous. “...now I was covered with gloom, sunk down to the utmost despair.” (Douglass U2 10). Douglass's emotions show how he felt helpless and felt like he could never escape. This shows when slaves are put into slavery they feel helpless and feel like they lose all hope.

In the context of the entire narrative, since Douglass has been born, he has been dehumanized. He was separated from what he had as a family, and could not do anything as he and those around him were subject to horrible suffering and punishment. This very experience helps Douglass eventually execute the idea of

It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason” (10). He puts a lot of emphasis on the ideas that slaves need to be tricked into accepting their enslavement. Since no person in his right mind would ever accept such a condition, it is the intent for the master’s to destroy the slave’s minds. Douglass expresses how slaves aren’t the only victims and how it corrupts all of those who are involved in

(Douglass1845/1995) states that there were often times when he wished himself dead or to be a free man, but then remembered what his purpose was in life, to be an abolitionist against slavery (p.24). Douglass was determined to not give up on his dream to be a free man. Douglass regretted being with a Christian slave owner; it was worse than being with a non-Christian. The Christian slave owners would use the Bible as a backup to beat the slaves, even though they were taking it out of context. (Douglass 1845/1995) states that Christian slave owners were the meanest, cruelest, and most un-pleasant to be around (p.46). They would just beat the slaves because they thought the Bible said that the slaves fairly deserved it, but none of these opinions were true, and Douglass knew it. Douglass wrote about his experiences to show to others around the globe what it was like to be a slave under different slave owners. Douglass had been under many slave owners and wanted others to know how hard it was to be a slave so that maybe one day, slavery would be brought to an end, and he would be

Slavery is a topic very capable of putting an emotional weight on a person. This is even more so for those that have actually experienced it first-hand. Frederick Douglass, one of the more influential African-Americans in history, himself, was once a slave. He experienced everything that comes with being a slave in first-person. All the wickedness, hardships, and mental and physical damage, that came with being a slave, were experienced by him. Frederick is able to experience freedom after taking the step himself and escaping slavery. After what is almost an entire life of slavery, one would expect him to have many thoughts floating in his mind about his new found freedom. In the passage from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass use figures of speech and syntax, and repetition of key phrases to convey his feelings of excitement, insecurity, and loneliness from escaping slavery and arriving in New York in 1838.

Another example of slave master’s methods to dehumanize slaves were the living conditions provided to slaves. Along with the lashings and severe punishment to which slaves were often subjected, they were also kept half-starved. As Douglass writes, “They [Henrietta and Mary] seldom knew what it was to eat a full meal.” Douglass adds, “I have seen Mary contending with the pigs for the offal thrown into the street.” (pp. 411-412) This reveals how slave masters would not feed slaves adequate portions of food, which led to many slaves being extremely thin and malnourished. Knowledge of such despicable acts happening to one's family can only inspire feelings of despise, disgust and hatred. Douglass, however, used this as fuel to inspire his freedom.

Fittingly, they treated the slaves as if their family bonds were completely worthless – something they would never have imagined doing to a white man. This is illustrated through Douglass's relationship with his own mother, Harriet Bailey, whom he was separated from as an infant. As Douglass reminisced, "very little communication ever took place between us…I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial…I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (26). This passage depicts how the slaveholders became so convinced of the worthlessness of the slaves that they saw no reason to respect the vital bond between a mother and child. Consequently, the slaves' view of family fell askew. Although Douglass appeared to know that his mother was important and desired a relationship with her, her passing clearly did not ever sadden him. He also showed no affection for his brother and sisters, as he lacked the necessary interactions with them needed to form familial bondage. Additionally, slaveholders expressed extreme animosity towards the slave families by raping slave women, impregnating them, and then encouraging their white children to whip their half-black siblings. As a result of the dehumanizing behavior that slavery presents, slaves not only suffered and lost all of their freedoms, but also lost their entire family lives, which the slaveholders deemed necessary to

Douglass’s own personal experiences reveals just how quickly slavery can change a life. On January 1, 1833, Douglass was reassigned to Mr. Covey, a sadistic man who enjoyed catching slaves doing something wrong off guard. In just six months, Douglass was forced to work under all circumstances. He proclaims that “it was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow, too hard for us to work in the field” (pg 37). The results of this treatment were devastating. Deprived of time to rest and stripped of his dignity, Douglass was “broken in body, soul, and spirit” (pg 38). Eventually, it appears as if Douglass becomes depressed as his “intellect languished”, his “disposition to read departed”, and “the cheerful spark that lingered about his eyes died” (pg 38). From Douglass’s personal experience, readers can see how just minimal exposure to slavery can dehumanize a man into depression. Additionally, Douglass literally says that he was “a man transformed into a brute!” (pg 38). Through Douglass’s experiences, readers can certainly see that slavery dismantles the lives of its poor

Violence can be described as a behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. Violence has been around from the beginning and can be seen through history in writing and events that occurred. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, violence’s jarring effects on societal members are evidenced through various relationships and partnerships, portraying society’s corrupt ideologies and ethics.

In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Mr. Douglass gives many examples of cruelty towards slaves as he shows many reasons that could have been used to abolish slavery. Throughout the well-written narrative, Douglass uses examples from the severe whippings that took place constantly to a form of brainwashing by the slaveholders over the slaves describing the terrible conditions that the slaves were faced with in the south in the first half of the 1800’s. The purpose of this narrative was most likely to give others not affiliated with slaves an explicit view of what actually happened to the slaves physically, mentally, and emotionally to show the explicit importance of knowledge to the liberation

Many parents seek to have children’s literature which contains violence removed or banned from all access to young children. They complain that the subject matter of these books is too much for children to handle. The parents do this as they believe it to be a form of protection from the dangerous world we live in. they know all too well that what is expressed in the books is happening in reality.by reading these violent books it evokes a sense of fear or the need to harm oneself or others. Therefore stopping the chance of them reading these books is shielding them from the hurt and pain which it is associated with. Literature and media are the main reasons for violence in the