Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick An American Slave Summary

How important is a slave narrative to this generation? Among widely read slave narratives lies “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick, An American Slave”. Its author, Frederick Douglass was a silver tongued orator and abolitionist. White Northerners found it hard to believe that Douglass was once a slave.This was due to his brilliant oratory as many believe ‘that education and slavery were incompatible with each other’. As the title implies, the autobiography Frederick Douglass penned was to share his first-hand experience as a slave with the world. It is about his life from birth till his debut as an abolitionist and was published at the Antislavery office in 1845. The book has 11 chapters, a preface by leading abolitionists Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, and a poetical parody. Religion, slavery, education, and humanity are major themes. Its picturesque eloquence in unraveling the story and unveiling how Douglass became who he was helped fuel the …show more content…
Hugh Auld told Mrs. Auld that, education would do a slave more harm than good. After reading ‘The Columbian Orator’, even Douglass felt that he would have been better off ignorant. This is because his knowledge was not suited to his conditions. Slaveholders know of that and abhor giving slaves this basic right. Without education, slaves cannot escape and know nothing apart from their terrible lives.
Accordingly, humanity is an important theme in the book. Reading “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” not only allows us to experience the history of slavery personally, it also arouses emotions like sympathy, empathy, humility, content with one’s life and contempt for slavery. Though slavery is considered a dead institution, it has shaped current social issues like white supremacism. Understanding the problem from its root can help in easing it. Douglass’ masterful use of words can be of help to us in terms of the