Introduction
The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” calls readers on a heart-wrenching journey through the life of Frederick Douglass. This memoir is about Douglass’s years in slavery and his resolution to escape freedom. It was published in 1845 and played a significant role in winning the minds and hearts of the cause of liberation (Douglass, 54). Even though Douglass’ narrative reads like a novel, it is a true story as he narrates the struggles he encountered in his life toward freedom.
Discussion
The narrative begins with Douglass’ birth to a slave mother and an unknown white father. Shortly after he was born, his mother was sold to a distant farm, and he could only see her a few times before her death. Horrible encounters marked his first two years because of the violence of slavery. He explains how his employer kept a lot of slaves on his plantation and more on the neighboring farm which also belonged to him. He also states that the colonel was wealthy and could only be compared to job wealth. For instance, he kept more than ten servants in his household, whereas he was said to own more than a thousand enslaved people.
Douglass narrates how his old master whipped him as he suffered from cold and hunger. He thereafter gets lucky when he is sent to Baltimore for no particular reason. While in Baltimore, he is made known to literacy by his mistress, Sophia Auld (Douglass, 44). However, when his master forbids Mrs. Auld from teaching him, he takes the initiative to learn independently. Mr. Auld insisted that it was against the law to teach enslaved people anything and that they should only know how to obey their master.
Douglass describes his paramour as a kind- and tender-hearted woman. She treated him as one being was supposed to treat the other when he first went to live with her. However, slavery managed to take all these heavenly qualities. Douglass’s time in Baltimore was cut short by the death of his master, which started a thorough evaluation of all his master’s property. As a result, he was transferred to another Baltimore family before returning to plantation life. As he was back in his countryside, he got a reputation for resistance, and as a result, he was sent to a poor farmer who was widely known as negro breaker.
Douglass describes how he suffers under Mr. Covey, and after suffering for some time, he resolves to disobey him, and the two even fight. After the fight, Douglass wins the battle, and he is never whipped again. After spending time at Mr. Covey, he is sent to another farm where he teaches the other enslaved people how to read and write (Douglass, 23). Eventually, they agree on an escape, but they fail. After they are discovered, he sits in jail, waiting to be sold to the Deep South. As an alternative, he is sent to Baltimore, where he starts to work in a shipyard. Unfortunately, he encounters a thorough beating at the shipyard by the white workers, where he is beaten to death. The shipboard eating is one of the last atrocities that happened to Douglass. This narrative ends with Douglass safely being employed in Massachusetts.
Conclusion
The life of Frederick Douglass enlightens me about courage and self-determination. Despite his suffering in North America, he did not lose hope and was determined to escape, even at the cost of his death. One of the experiences that Douglass had as an enslaved African was the inhumanity of slavery. He demonstrates the act of slavery as cruel, unjust, immoral, and unnatural. Douglass escaped from slavery on 3rd September 1838, through the help of a disguise and job skills that he had earned while working at a Baltimore shipyard. Douglass’s life had two key turning points as an enslaved person which are the gift of literacy and the brutal beating of his Aunt Hester.
Work Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Chapter X, in The Norton Anthology of American Literature, ed, 2008.