Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

The Terrible Truth Imagine that you are dehumanized to the extent of being regarded as chattel. You have no rights, you are not allowed to seek an education, you cannot oppose a white man, and you are maltreated at your owner’s will. You are a slave like Douglass in the 1800s. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is the life story of the author himself and his journey from slavery to freedom. In his narrative, Frederick Douglass uses rhetorical appeals to possibly inveigle abolitionists and people to understand why slavery is abhorrent and should be demolished. Douglass appeals to a strong sense pathos through acrid images and unnerving diction to reveal the horrors of slavery. He uses memories of brutality he either witnessed or personally suffered from. Douglass’ memory of witnessing his Aunt Hester being whipped with a “heavy cowskin” and watching “her naked back… literally covered with blood” while hearing “heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from [Mr. Plumber]”, instills trepidation and abhorrence in the reader’s heart (Douglass 23, 24). By invoking these emotions of fear, Douglass communicates the terrors and inhumanity of slavery. He uses malice images such as this memory of the …show more content…
For example, Mrs. Hugh was at first “a kind and tender-hearted woman” but “slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities” (Douglass 51, 52). Because slavery has dangerous effects on both parties, Douglass has logically concluded that slavery gives too much power to one person by allowing someone the capability of owning another human being should be exterminated completely because of its detrimental effects on everyone. Anything that only has the capability of causing excruciating physical and mental pain, like slavery, that profits nothing good should not be