Examples Of Parallelism In Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass uses contrast, parallelism, imagery, allusions, and details to enhance the wickedness of slavery. He recalled all of his experiences in the mid-1800s as an educated man trapped in slavery. His journey guided him to become one of the most influential writers during the period of slavery. He was an extremely important slave because he was one of the few slaves that was highly educated and was aware of the unfair situation that he and the fellow slaves was trapped in. In his narrative, Frederick Douglass uses many literary devices to accurately portray his experiences as a slave, including contrast, parallelism, imagery, allusions, and details.
Throughout Narrative of the Life …show more content…
After the death of one of his masters, he describes his grandmother by way of parallelism. In the statement, there are two examples of parallelism; “She was nevertheless left a slave—a slave for life—a slave in the hands of strangers; and in their hands she saw her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren, divided…” (41). The repetition of slave at the beginning of the sentence emphasizes how, even though she was extremely hard working on the plantation for Master Andrew, she would still always remain a slave. Later on in the sentence, the structure using “children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren,” emphasizes how old Douglass’s grandmother is. It shows how long she has lived to see her descendants, but how hard it has been for her to see them divided among plantations. Douglass also uses parallelism when describing his new relationship with his new master, Master Auld. He states, “He was, to me, a new master, and I, to him, a new slave” (45). In this sentence, the parallelism is found in the sentence structure, with “...to me” and “...to him”. The parallelism relays the feelings of each Frederick Douglass and Master Auld about one another. Parallelism is doubly used in the following statement describing the attempt of intimidation Master Thomas had on Douglass; “But in spite of him, and even in spite of myself, I continued to think, and to think about the injustice of …show more content…
He describes his feelings after being free in New York, but he still worries about being recaptured at any moment. He uses personification to describe this as, “...enough to damp the ardor of my enthusiasm” (92). The thought of being recaptured alone simply eliminate any excitement for finally being free. Douglass uses a simile to describe what it is like after becoming a free slave, stating, “My sufferings on this plantation seem now like a dream rather than a stern reality” (56). He compares the hardships that he endured as a slave seeming like a lifetime ago, rather than something that actually occurred. When describing the first time he witnessed a whipping at Captain Anthony’s plantation, he personifies the event. He recalls it as, “...the bloodstained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass” (5). He marks this event as an inauguration into the cruel reality of slavery that he was soon to enter. Additionally, Frederick Douglass uses a simile to portray how blind slaves are to everything they are being put through. He states, “ the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs,” (1). By comparing slaves to horses, it shows how ignorant and innocent slaves were to themselves and their