The Box Man
In “The Box Man”, Barbara Lazear Ascher describes the lives of the Box Man and two other women in order to compare them. By analyzing these comparisons, readers can come to the conclusion that the Box Man leads a more meaningful life than the other two women. While this statement may initially appear to be absurd, it is most definitely true. Without understanding their lives, it would seem that the Box Man is living a purposeless life and his hobby of collecting boxes indicates how mentally insane he is. However, this fact actually holds to be untrue as the Box Man’s life has purpose because the act of collecting boxes makes him feel fulfilled and satisfies his goals. This might indicate that he is not as crazy as readers might …show more content…
Originally, Douglas was educated by his mistress and was on the course to becoming fully literate. However, his lessons ended when his master instructed his wife to stop educating Douglas. Douglas attempted to educate himself as frequently, but his mistress made sure to thwart those attempts. Despite being constantly monitored by his masters, Douglas would slowly hone his reading skills by interacting with white kids while being sent out on errands. Later, Frederick Douglas read a book, written by Sheridan, that described slavery and human rights. This information caused Douglas a great deal of pain and it caused him to comprehend the power of education. As he grew older, Douglas planned to escape from his master. He realized that if he could learn how to write, he could successfully write himself a pass and thus become free. It took years for Douglas to master writing, but he was able to do so by learning the alphabet from his job at the shipyard and by copying text from the books of his master’s son. Education enabled Frederick Douglas to leave his horrible environment and enter a better
In “The Box Man”, Barbara Lazear Ascher describes the lives of the Box Man and two other women in order to compare them. By analyzing these comparisons, readers can come to the conclusion that the Box Man leads a more meaningful life than the other two women. While this statement may initially appear to be absurd, it is most definitely true. Without understanding their lives, it would seem that the Box Man is living a purposeless life and his hobby of collecting boxes indicates how mentally insane he is. However, this fact actually holds to be untrue as the Box Man’s life has purpose because the act of collecting boxes makes him feel fulfilled and satisfies his goals. This might indicate that he is not as crazy as readers might …show more content…
Originally, Douglas was educated by his mistress and was on the course to becoming fully literate. However, his lessons ended when his master instructed his wife to stop educating Douglas. Douglas attempted to educate himself as frequently, but his mistress made sure to thwart those attempts. Despite being constantly monitored by his masters, Douglas would slowly hone his reading skills by interacting with white kids while being sent out on errands. Later, Frederick Douglas read a book, written by Sheridan, that described slavery and human rights. This information caused Douglas a great deal of pain and it caused him to comprehend the power of education. As he grew older, Douglas planned to escape from his master. He realized that if he could learn how to write, he could successfully write himself a pass and thus become free. It took years for Douglas to master writing, but he was able to do so by learning the alphabet from his job at the shipyard and by copying text from the books of his master’s son. Education enabled Frederick Douglas to leave his horrible environment and enter a better