Mrs Auld Character Analysis

Mrs. Auld now realized that education and slavery were incompatible. The once, kind Mrs. Auld, now turned her back on Frederick Douglass. She stopped teaching Frederick Douglass to read, nor, would not let him look at the newspaper. However, all of her evil intentions to abandon him in mental darkness just motivated him to further his reading abilities to the next level

He was so thrilled to leave the life of the field work behind him. “I had been treated as a pig on the plantation: I was treated as a child now”, he says that “troops of hostile boys” he would wish that he could be back on “the home plantation”. Auld’s wife Sophia was teaching Douglass how to read, when all of a sudden, Auld walks in and he insisted that she stop immediately, he said “a slave, should know nothing but the will of his mater”, “would forever unfit him for the duties of a slave”. Douglass heard and was able to understand the message, but he got so much out of his crucial statement. “In learning to read, therefore, I… owe quite as much to the opposition of my master, as to kindly assistance of my amiable mistress”. Douglass was to determined to learn so he would exchanging bread for reading lessons, from hungry white children from the streets of Baltimore. “For a single biscuit” he states, “any of my hungry little comrades would give me a lesson more valuable to me than bread”. One of many instances where Douglass own audacity when he was still young, was when he was sent by Master Auld to the planation, as Covey aka The Negro Breaker. Auld’s objective was that the Willy and resentfulness of Covey would break Douglass’s unconquerable emotions. Auld almost achieved that. Douglass would sometimes defend himself to one of his temporary master’s. His temporary master would brutally

     The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.

To start off, Douglass uses the rhetorical appeal, logos, to denounce the actions of the slave owners. Douglass describes the characteristics of a cruel overseer, Mr. Severe. “He died very soon after… and he died as he lived, uttering… bitter curses and horrid oaths” (Douglass, 19). The contrast in the two words “died” and “lived” also relates to logic, or rather the lack of logic, because his horrible actions caused him to die a horrible death. It shows that slaveholders are hard-headed on their attitudes on slavery, which uncovers the lack of compassion displayed by the slave owners. To build on, the word “oath” signifies having Christian values. Typically, Christians take oaths to never lie and to speak the truth, yet slave owners allow themselves to lie to their own beliefs when they treat slaves as if they were not human. Slave owners justify the way they act, by dehumanizing slaves and treating them as animals or property. Furthermore, Mrs. Auld, the wife of a slave owner, demonstrates how slavery rots the soul of slave owners. She starts out teaching young Douglass how to read and write and then becomes just like all the other corrupted slave owners. “The tender heart became stone, and the lamb-like disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (Douglass, 34). In the quote, Douglass uses an antithesis varying in words such as, “tender” and “stone”. Contrasting words appeal to logos, because this evidence helps justify the argument that slavery transforms slave owners, in this case, Mrs. Auld. He also uses animals “lamb” and “tiger” to emphasize the similarities of animals and slaves at this time. It can also relate to

Douglass is disappointed by his master when he prevents his mistress from teaching him, a slave, how to read when he deeply enjoyed being educated and literate. It become harder for him to be able to learn to read and write, but he learned the power of education and how people can be fearful of it at this time if you teach a slave to read and write. When his master tells his wife to quit teaching him, that only motivates and encourages him to continue because he knows that education is valuable or Mr. Auld wouldn’t be telling his wife to stop.

Initially, Sophia Auld ordained to teach Douglass the very basics of literacy – his ABCs and how to spell a few short words (Douglass 45) – but not long after, Hugh Auld, enraged, puts a stop to his progress. Auld claims that were Douglass to learn to how to read “there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave” (Douglass 45), and his lessons cease promptly; however, the seed of doubt for his master’s power is already planted. Though hardly more than a child, Douglass reaches the conclusion that with literacy comes agency, and subsequently, the ability to gain freedom – something his master feared most vehemently (Douglass 45). The white man’s ability to keep his slaves in the dark about the truths of scripture and rhetoric were the crux of his power, and equipped with new found knowledge of this apparent flaw in the system of slavery, Douglass grows determined to learn how to read by any means available. He resolves to befriend any and all young white boys he encounters on the streets and, in exchange for a bit of bread, asks them to help him on his way to literacy, and through this act of defiance, by the end of his seven years with the Aulds, he is entirely literate (Douglass 50). This emphasis on gaining the ability to read and write is a common theme in male

Within Douglass’s Narrative as a child one of the first adults to impact your life, his mother, passes. The way he illustrates his emotion is seen through his syntax, his sentences explaining how he felt were almost cold, very short and choppy as if he was speaking about a stranger. “The ties that ordinarily bind children to their homes did not exist in my case. I felt no sadness at the thought of leaving. I was not leaving any loved one.” (Douglass 28). Douglass develops an almost nonchalance in his writing which builds up to the emotional appeal as he relocates into a new community, the first true community Douglass is able to experience is within slavery. However, Douglass sets a shift as his tone shifts from cold and nonchalant to cheery and wholehearted as he is integrated into a new society. The emotions that Douglass expresses through his writing indicate his emotions towards the relationship he and his communities share; On the Colonels farm he was cold and distance and as he relocates to Baltimore he becomes more sincere, joyful and open to emotion likely due to the fact that Baltimore was the start of his literacy and the end of his mental suppression. Contradictorily, those in opposition of the ideal that person is a product of their community will claim that Douglass’s claims in his narrative only speak for the enslaved African American community however within the narrative Douglass speaks on the norms of society and suppression of women within

As soon as Douglass pieces together what Mr. Auld was saying he recognizes that “What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn.” (Douglass 38). This instant illustrates one of the first climaxes of the narrative. One statement made by Mr. Auld so greatly impacted Douglass by giving him a new sense of hope and will to succeed in obtaining his freedom. Douglass pulls out the positive in this experience, that Mr. Auld accidentally shared with him the power that comes with education. “In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both” (Douglass 39). Douglass learned to read not only in thanks to his kind mistress, who willingly taught him to read, but also to his cruel master whose rage towards Douglass learning to read and write generated him to give Douglass the knowledge he wanted to keep from him to begin with. The lesson given to him by his master about education was far more important than even the lesson’s on learning to read. Douglass’s use of chiasmi takes this climax to the

Throughout the narration, Douglass has tried to maintain the flow using the techniques of realism and irony in order to present his themes. The reader can observe his helplessness for misery of the slaves from the quoted incidents. For example in the very first chapter, Douglass recalls the incident of his Aunt Hester who is

“The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is often told with a harsh and unemotional tone; it is this euphemistic style that gives the reader a keen insight into the writer's epoch as a slave in Maryland during the early 1800’s. Douglass never let us forget that his narrative was true, he wanted the readers to understand the truth that was Douglass's life, in addition the symbols and allusions that populate this book showing the intelligence and sophistication of the writer, while the detached writing also gives the reader another look into that time’s attitude and into Douglass’s own perception.

When Douglass was young, he was transported to Baltimore to his new masters Mr. And Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld, Douglass writes, was very kind to him (p. 19). She also was the first to teach him how to read and write (p. 20). However Mr. Auld discovered this and hindered Mrs. Auld from teaching him. After this she became very cruel to Douglass.

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’ biography revolves around the idea of freedom. After seeing a traumatizing incident as a child, Douglass slowly begins to realize that he is not a free human being, but is a slave owned by other people. He is surrounded by a society that devalues him and people like him, and systematically worked to keep them ignorant and submissive. In this society, it is made clear that no slave is special, and everyone is replaceable. Rather than accept this, Douglass struggles to maintain what little autonomy he was allowed to have. When his one of his masters, Thomas Auld, bans his mistress, Sophia, from teaching Douglass how to read, Douglass learned from the young boys on the street. His biography shows him transforming from an ignorant child into his older, more learned self.

Mr.Covey,is another harsh slave master that Frederick is acustomed to, his way of breaking slaves is by whipping and beating them until they can’t remember who they are. Hugh Auld, educates Douglass by preventing him to read, he accidently teaches douglass the power of being an educated slave. Another important character in the narrative is Anna Murray; she is the wife of Frederick Douglass. Although, she isn’t talked about much in the book. She is a free black woman,in Baltimore,Maryland. She isn’t mentioned until they marry in new york. The book is set in pre-civil war, Maryland,New York, and Bedford. When, this book was written, the author’s intended audience is Willaim Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips; also white people in the north, he wanted them to read the book and be convinced that slavery had damaging effects, and how it should be abolished. I like how clearly the book is written to me because I can picture Frederick Douglas going through these trying times in his life. I feel like he has sat me down and almost like given me a journal of his life,

In “To My Old Master, Thomas Auld” By Frederick Douglass, Douglass wrote about the horrid things that happened to him, his family and other slaves. By writing the letter, Douglass became an activist with a strong voice. He spoke for himself, former slaves and slaves that were currently in chains. He used his strong voice to portray his feelings and experiences, he showed emotion through his words. By doing so he created empathy in the reader, something that many before him were not able to do. The white population was hard to get through but Douglass managed to bring them to understand by using his extraordinary literary skills and described his experience with vivid imagery. He used word play and imagery to draw attention to the horrible treatment of colored folk in the 1800’s.