Essay On The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass wrote several works during his lifetime, arguably, none had the impact of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Since 1845 his essay has been considered by many as one of most highly applauded American autobiographies ever written. Published seven years after Douglas’s escape as a slave, his works put into print an analysis of slavery that he had been lecturing on around the country for many years. Yet while his essay described in vivid detail of his experiences, it also revealed his spiritual insights into the slave vs. master relationship. One of the things that Douglass understood was that literacy was equated with not only individual awareness but also freedom. Douglass made it his goal to learn as much as he could. He eventually learned how to write, a skill that would provide him with many opportunities not afforded other slaves which eventually lead him to freedom. What gives the essay its complexity is Douglas’s ability to integrate sophisticated literary strategies that mode a particular African-American identity. Borrowing from a wide range of discourses that include slave autobiographies, emotional rhetoric, and religious rhetoric, Douglass created a testament not only to the terrors of slavery but to the power of the …show more content…
In the Essay, Douglass mentioned numerous methods in which slaveholders kept information from slaves in order to keep them from having a simple understanding of themselves. Such insights lend credibility and power to his Essay. As a student of history, I understand how this could have a great influence and an extreme motivator to others. His Essay had dual purposes: it acted as a form of dissent literature against slavery, while it showed and encouraged the reader that Douglass had been changed and is no longer a