Slavery is an evil that corrodes the slave 's life as well as the slaveholder 's mind and behavior. As demonstrated in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, the personality of the most pure masters and mistresses can have a negative 180 degree turn after experiencing slavery. Frederick Douglass argues this by presenting the examples of Sophia Auld (a white mistress) and Thomas Auld (a non-born slaver owner) who were influenced by slavery to become dishonest and immoral.
The evil of slavery affected both men and women slaveholders. Mrs. Auld underwent on a transformation of corruption when she gained the possession of slaves. Douglass describes this transformation in Chapter 7: "Under its influence, the tender …show more content…
Douglass claims: "Of all men, adopted slaveholders are the worst” (Douglass, p. 62). Unlike Sophia Auld, Thomas Auld was a portrayed as a mean slaveholder since he began to acquire slaves. His brutality was evident since Douglass met him, so slavery corrupted him in a different way. He was a fierce man, but he lacked that solid determination to dominate slaves. He attempted to imitate the born-slaveholders, but his inexperience as a slaveholder prevented him from exercising it correctly. Thomas Auld knew that the only way to govern slaves was by exerting this cruelty even though he sometimes failed to successfully apply it. This inconsistency made him so unpredictable that slaves didn 't know when he was going to be extremely brutal or when he was going to treat them better. Thomas also became quite religious after attending a Methodist meeting (63). It would be logical to think that religion would make him change his mind about the treatment he gave slaves, but Douglass says that "it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways"(63). Even though, one of the Methodist Church beliefs is to execute and promote social justice, what he was doing to his slaves wasn 't just at all. He even used this religious facet to justify his horrible actions. Thomas Auld not only became corrupted by slavery, but it also made him a hypocrite. On one hand he was this
The evil of slavery affected both men and women slaveholders. Mrs. Auld underwent on a transformation of corruption when she gained the possession of slaves. Douglass describes this transformation in Chapter 7: "Under its influence, the tender …show more content…
Douglass claims: "Of all men, adopted slaveholders are the worst” (Douglass, p. 62). Unlike Sophia Auld, Thomas Auld was a portrayed as a mean slaveholder since he began to acquire slaves. His brutality was evident since Douglass met him, so slavery corrupted him in a different way. He was a fierce man, but he lacked that solid determination to dominate slaves. He attempted to imitate the born-slaveholders, but his inexperience as a slaveholder prevented him from exercising it correctly. Thomas Auld knew that the only way to govern slaves was by exerting this cruelty even though he sometimes failed to successfully apply it. This inconsistency made him so unpredictable that slaves didn 't know when he was going to be extremely brutal or when he was going to treat them better. Thomas also became quite religious after attending a Methodist meeting (63). It would be logical to think that religion would make him change his mind about the treatment he gave slaves, but Douglass says that "it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways"(63). Even though, one of the Methodist Church beliefs is to execute and promote social justice, what he was doing to his slaves wasn 't just at all. He even used this religious facet to justify his horrible actions. Thomas Auld not only became corrupted by slavery, but it also made him a hypocrite. On one hand he was this