A Slave or a Slaveholder
Frederick Douglass, a victim of slavery, was taught to read and write by his Master, Mr. Auld’s wife, Mrs. Auld. This was before her husband forces her to stop the lessons and go against her nature. Douglass’s newfound knowledge only leads to his hopeless understanding that he is trapped forever. Slavery hurt slaves more than slave owners in many effects. Although the slaveowner is pressured to have slaves and act a certain way to African Americans even if it's not what they believe, it appears more true that Frederick had it shockingly harder.
Certainly, Mr. Auld forces Mrs. Auld to go against her kind nature and hurt a boy she truly cares for. And surely it was embarrassing for a white boy or slave owner to defend …show more content…
At a young age he experienced “violence done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the benevolence” (354). In saying this, the audience understands Douglass’ pain and sorrow of being trapped as a slave. Douglass even “often wished [himself] a beast, or a bird-anything rather than a slave”(357). The author writes this to say being a slave is like being an animal, maybe worse. This exemplifies how much worse being a slave was rather than a slave owner. His sorrowful words break the reader’s heart in two with, “I wish I could be free, as you will be when you get to be men”(355). Douglass’ realization of his predicament and full understanding of his future “was a terrible reality, and I shall never be able to tell how sadly that thought chafed my young spirit” the thought being “I AM A SLAVE FOR LIFE”(356). His experiences as a slave with no rights, no pay, and no comfort force the reader to understand his misery. The 12.5 million other slaves who were sold, torn from their families, and forced to work in places riddled with racism radically convey the extremity of being a slave. He dreams of freedom and rights as a man, (that every slave holder received because a materialistic view that their skin was worth more than Douglass’) throughout the story and exhibits how his life as a slave was more hellish and cursed than any slave holder in
Frederick Douglass, a victim of slavery, was taught to read and write by his Master, Mr. Auld’s wife, Mrs. Auld. This was before her husband forces her to stop the lessons and go against her nature. Douglass’s newfound knowledge only leads to his hopeless understanding that he is trapped forever. Slavery hurt slaves more than slave owners in many effects. Although the slaveowner is pressured to have slaves and act a certain way to African Americans even if it's not what they believe, it appears more true that Frederick had it shockingly harder.
Certainly, Mr. Auld forces Mrs. Auld to go against her kind nature and hurt a boy she truly cares for. And surely it was embarrassing for a white boy or slave owner to defend …show more content…
At a young age he experienced “violence done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the benevolence” (354). In saying this, the audience understands Douglass’ pain and sorrow of being trapped as a slave. Douglass even “often wished [himself] a beast, or a bird-anything rather than a slave”(357). The author writes this to say being a slave is like being an animal, maybe worse. This exemplifies how much worse being a slave was rather than a slave owner. His sorrowful words break the reader’s heart in two with, “I wish I could be free, as you will be when you get to be men”(355). Douglass’ realization of his predicament and full understanding of his future “was a terrible reality, and I shall never be able to tell how sadly that thought chafed my young spirit” the thought being “I AM A SLAVE FOR LIFE”(356). His experiences as a slave with no rights, no pay, and no comfort force the reader to understand his misery. The 12.5 million other slaves who were sold, torn from their families, and forced to work in places riddled with racism radically convey the extremity of being a slave. He dreams of freedom and rights as a man, (that every slave holder received because a materialistic view that their skin was worth more than Douglass’) throughout the story and exhibits how his life as a slave was more hellish and cursed than any slave holder in