The excerpt from Fredrick Douglass’ narrative is notable due to the fact that it perfectly demonstrates the power of literacy in a slave’s life. Slaves were denied the right to be literate because it would allow them to think freely and organize revolts against society. The fear engrained within the white community of this coming to pass made them deny slaves access to literature and deny them the ability to learn how to read or write. Hence, literacy was a democratizing and empowering force because it allowed the slaves to vindicate their human rights and gave them a voice. They were no longer beings that would only be seen and not heard in society. Thus, becoming literate was the first stride in their struggle for freedom. Like literacy,
