Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Narrative Essay

     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.

In Frederick Douglass 's first autobiography, "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, he provides a graphic portrayal of his childhood and disturbing experiences as a slave as well as his eventual escape to freedom. Douglass went through physical abuse, starvation, and mental fatigue during his youth, yet through unimaginable circumstances he was able to overcome everything and become a writer, newspaper editor, and most of all one of the most influential abolitionist. In telling his story, Douglass paints a realistic picture of slavery. Douglass 's narrative spells out the slaveholders ' tactics in simple terms while highlighting the moral inefficiencies and the damaging effects of slavery on both the slave and the slaveholder

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Douglass himself, giving a detailed description of the slaveholders cruelty. Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, and he makes known that he does not know his specific birthdate, “... no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.” (47), but it was approximately around 1818. Once being enslaved, and then escaping in 1838 he became known as an eloquent speaker for abolitionists, being able to deliver passionate speeches about the role of a slaveholder and their relationship to their slaves, especially since he was one of them. Douglass even discovered the true meaning of the songs sung by enslaved people, “ I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs, I was myself within the circle; so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear.” (27). The book is not an easy read for those who believe in equal rights, as Douglass put into painful words the description of brutal whippings, signs of no mercy, and people being taken advantage of because if they had shown mercy they believed they would have lost their dignity.

Frederick Douglass was a wise and brave man that grew up in the American slave system. He knows first hand the hardships of being owned by someone and having no way to escape that kind of life. After escaping from slavery he decided to write a book on the hardships of his life. In the book he describes the life of the slave and the many aspects that are not usually learned. These aspects describe the life of a slave in a point of view that is not usually looked at; the point of view of a slave.

In the story about Mary Prince, she had several owners. Mrs. Williams one of Mary Prince’s first owners was described as kind-hearted good women, who treated all her slaves well (Prince 7). Mr. Williams was described as an abusive husband, I think this may be the reason why she treated her slaves with so much kindness. Mary Prince had another owner by the name of Mr.D. Mr.D lived in Grand Quay, a small town, where he had owned a salt pound (Prince 19). Mr. D received profits for having slaves work in his salt pound. When he would beat Mary or order her to be punished she would describe him as being emotionless (Prince 20). The fact that Mr.D was running a business lead me to believe he could not show any weakness towards the slaves. This type of mentality would perhaps make the slaves fear him greater than the typical slave owner and raise the level of productivity of the slaves in fear of being beaten with no remorse. Even though this seems inhuman, it was also Mr.D’s livelihood to ensure the slaves were continuing to work

Starting from a slave’s birth, this cruel process leads to a continuous cycle of abuse, neglect, and inhumane treatment. To some extent, slave holders succeed because they keep most slaves so concerned with survival that they have no time or energy to consider freedom. This is particularly true for plantation slaves where the conditions of slave life are the most difficult and challenging. However, slave holders fail to realize the damage they inadvertently inflict on themselves by upholding slavery and enforcing these austere laws and attitudes.

Slaves had never been treated as humans they were always beaten for ridiculous things. The first hand account of John Andrew Jackson an ex-slave shows how bad slaves really had it in his book The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina:

finding she was of but little value, her frame already racked with the pains of old age, and

Frederick Douglass: Slave Life Frederick Douglass compiled a book of series of events that he faced as a slave that became a book called, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States. Douglass describes how slaves faced the psychological and social problems while trying to deal with fear and pain as well. Slaves were dehumanized and were always in fear.

Frederick Douglass was the most influential abolitionist of 19th century America. His main purpose in writing his narrative was to rebuke the romantic image of slavery in the antebellum South. For decades, southerners would create reasons for rationalizing slavery. Douglass convinces Americans of the true conditions of slavery by including characters that prove that slaves are as intellectually capable as their white counterparts and explain why slaves are disloyal to each other. Douglass includes friends and family from his early life that depict the horrific life of a slave.

With slavery being one of the most controversial topics at the time that Frederick Douglass’ book surfaced in the United States, many did not know of the actual conditions that the slaves were living in. Many thought that slaves were individuals who had no education, and were people that worked on the plantations hauling around cotton on their backs, sun beaming down on them. Though it could be true for some slaves living in the south, many slaves did not live in such ways. The autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass shed light on the real conditions of the slaves in United States at the time.

These slave owners would threatened them until they would say something and if they did not they would be wiped. People got whipped because they tried to run away and they would just get caught and taken back to the plantation to be beaten by their masters. These individuals were faced in many different situations where they were tortured with crazy, hurtful

The daily life of slave were very harsh because of their lengthy hours, just to support themselves and their family. The whole family practically worked from sunrise to sunset with no exclusions for the sick, the elders, pregnant women, or even the children. As soon as the children began to walk, they were in the fields doing whatever their parents were doing. Some people escaped by having genius plans that successfully work, even though they had their doubts. They desperately wanted to become a “freedman.” Although, the treatment from their masters were unacceptable, and uncalled for, some slaves still managed to get through this difficult time.

Obviously, the institution of slavery is immoral, and the treatment of black men and women in the early days of American was inhumane. Often, slaves were whipped if the masters were not satisfied with their work. Also, even after being presented with papers of freedom, Hettie McClain and her mother were kidnapped by several white men and returned to bondage.

treated them harshly. The masters’ perception of blacks was that they lacked self-discipline and morality. They justified slavery by claiming that they were training the slaves to master self discipline through work and also train them in the precepts of God. Not all masters were harsh and cruel. Some treated their slaves with kindness and subsequently were well loved. However, it still emerges that a majority of even the kindest masters still did not attach much humane value to their slaves. This has been exemplified in that despite