Frederick Douglass (February 1818 - February 20, 1895) was a well-known escaped slave who was an abolitionist leader, author, and the first African-American government official. His book A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the story of life as a slave in the 1800s from the perspective of Frederick Douglass. From reading this book a reader could learn that slavery was a much more complex system than simply one human owning another, but rather an entire lifestyle and culture. Overall, I found the book to be very insightful and interesting to read. America in the 1800s was very rough for slaves. Douglass shares and describes his life as one in this novel. Douglass was born into slavery on Lloyd’s plantation where he doesn’t face
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Not long after she begins teaching Douglass that her husband orders her to stop instructing him, but this doesn’t end Douglass’ learning career. After experiencing for just a moment how to read and write encouraged Douglass to strive to learn more realizing that knowledge would be the key to his freedom one day. A few years later, Douglass is taken from Hugh to serve Thomas Auld. From there, Thomas Auld rents Douglass to Edward Covey in order to “break” him. It is here that Douglass endures his greatest hardships as a slave. Douglass reaches a turning point in his life one day when he decides to fight Covey. Douglass ultimately wins this battle and is never touched by him again. Greater, however, is that Douglass learns that he is able to stand up to a white man when pushed past the breaking point. After being rented to Covet, Douglass is then rented to William Freeland. Douglass makes his strongest connection and bond with other slaves here and begins to teach them to read and write. It is also here that Douglass plans with some of the other slaves to escape, but on the day the plan is to be executed someone betrays them and they …show more content…
An example of the culture for slaves that could be learned is the singing that slaves did that Douglass describes. The slaves would sing about how miserable their life was, but the desolate hope that they had. Douglass compares this singing to the singing of a man alone on an island, which is a very fitting comparison. Another example of the culture of slaves in the novel that could be learned is when Douglass describes the holiday break that the slaves receive. He explains that few slaves may go find work or go hunting, but the large majority of slaves would participate in sports and drinking. During this time the slaves wouldn’t be required to do any work other than the basic duties, such as feeding the animals. This was a time for slaves to relax and actually enjoy life for the little bit of time they are allowed to each year. An example about the way of life of a slave that could be learned from this novel is when Douglass describes his mother’s death and the emotions he felt from it. Douglass explained that it felt as if a stranger had died when his mother passed. Many slaves didn’t have close family connections like Douglass. Even with his siblings Douglass explained how the connection between them was no different from any other slave on the plantation. This is a result of families being so disoriented with families constantly being split
Not long after she begins teaching Douglass that her husband orders her to stop instructing him, but this doesn’t end Douglass’ learning career. After experiencing for just a moment how to read and write encouraged Douglass to strive to learn more realizing that knowledge would be the key to his freedom one day. A few years later, Douglass is taken from Hugh to serve Thomas Auld. From there, Thomas Auld rents Douglass to Edward Covey in order to “break” him. It is here that Douglass endures his greatest hardships as a slave. Douglass reaches a turning point in his life one day when he decides to fight Covey. Douglass ultimately wins this battle and is never touched by him again. Greater, however, is that Douglass learns that he is able to stand up to a white man when pushed past the breaking point. After being rented to Covet, Douglass is then rented to William Freeland. Douglass makes his strongest connection and bond with other slaves here and begins to teach them to read and write. It is also here that Douglass plans with some of the other slaves to escape, but on the day the plan is to be executed someone betrays them and they …show more content…
An example of the culture for slaves that could be learned is the singing that slaves did that Douglass describes. The slaves would sing about how miserable their life was, but the desolate hope that they had. Douglass compares this singing to the singing of a man alone on an island, which is a very fitting comparison. Another example of the culture of slaves in the novel that could be learned is when Douglass describes the holiday break that the slaves receive. He explains that few slaves may go find work or go hunting, but the large majority of slaves would participate in sports and drinking. During this time the slaves wouldn’t be required to do any work other than the basic duties, such as feeding the animals. This was a time for slaves to relax and actually enjoy life for the little bit of time they are allowed to each year. An example about the way of life of a slave that could be learned from this novel is when Douglass describes his mother’s death and the emotions he felt from it. Douglass explained that it felt as if a stranger had died when his mother passed. Many slaves didn’t have close family connections like Douglass. Even with his siblings Douglass explained how the connection between them was no different from any other slave on the plantation. This is a result of families being so disoriented with families constantly being split