Bildungsroman stems from the German “bildung”, which means education, formation, or growth, and “roman”, which means novel. A typical bildungsroman is set in the life of a young protagonist who is distinct from the majority in a socially undesirable way, and follows them through their journey to assimilation into mainstream society and their eventual acceptance of the rules and constructs society has in place for them. To categorize Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave as such, is to ignore the extent of Douglass’ personal struggle, as well as the struggle of the American Slave. In order to understand this, the first thing one must consider is Douglass’ unique relationship to education. Like most other slaves, he
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Auld’s teachings, he forbade it because it was considered unsafe and unlawful for a master to teach a slave how to read. Douglass recalls him forcefully saying that “Learning would spoil …show more content…
The songs speak volumes, not from any one perspective but as an expression of the collective pain experienced. In the same way, Douglass’ work is a tale not solely of his own pain and suffering, but an account as objective as possible from an autobiographical standpoint of the inexplicable horrors of slavery. The story is told in such a way as to give him maximum credibility as an author, for example through his honesty in admitting that he does not know his name or his exact birthplace, and his simultaneous effort to give as much detail as possible. Frederick Douglass, as a sole voice for slaves, needed to an account honest and eloquent enough to appeal to those on the fence about emancipation. His care in his word choice to appeal to all audiences is evident throughout the memoir. He compares treatment from different masters with honesty, but even the masters that treated him the most fairly are never singled out as “good slave owners”. As soon as he receives “a powerful vindication of human rights” (47), from Sheridan’s mighty speeches, he felt as though “the silver trump of freedom had
Auld’s teachings, he forbade it because it was considered unsafe and unlawful for a master to teach a slave how to read. Douglass recalls him forcefully saying that “Learning would spoil …show more content…
The songs speak volumes, not from any one perspective but as an expression of the collective pain experienced. In the same way, Douglass’ work is a tale not solely of his own pain and suffering, but an account as objective as possible from an autobiographical standpoint of the inexplicable horrors of slavery. The story is told in such a way as to give him maximum credibility as an author, for example through his honesty in admitting that he does not know his name or his exact birthplace, and his simultaneous effort to give as much detail as possible. Frederick Douglass, as a sole voice for slaves, needed to an account honest and eloquent enough to appeal to those on the fence about emancipation. His care in his word choice to appeal to all audiences is evident throughout the memoir. He compares treatment from different masters with honesty, but even the masters that treated him the most fairly are never singled out as “good slave owners”. As soon as he receives “a powerful vindication of human rights” (47), from Sheridan’s mighty speeches, he felt as though “the silver trump of freedom had