Throughout his narrative, Douglass often describes how education is unsuited for slaves. There are many occurrences when he goes from a deep longing to become more educated and expand his knowledge to being in a state of hopeless despair. In one incident, he states “It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but no ladder upon which to get out” (24). For Frederick, finally becoming literate and socially aware of the situation he and his fellow slaves were in often made him miserable. To make matters worse, He had to live in a constant state of paranoia because he would have been sold or beaten if it was known he could read. With the feeling that all of society was pushing against his will to learn, Fredrick suffered because of his education.
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