Book Analysis Essay on Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas

Introduction

Among the memoirs of slavery lies the narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas. The tale is among the most famous works written by former slaves. The story describes the life of a slave in factual detail. The book consists of eleven chapters that cover Fredrick's life from infancy to adulthood at the time of the abolition of slavery. The book is among the pieces of literature that fueled the abolitionist movement. As a result, the memoir carries some historical significance, especially in regards to black history.

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Fredrik Douglas was an American slave that lived in the period between 1818 and 1895. He was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, in Talbot County, Maryland. Like most slaves at the time, Douglass is not sure of his exact date of birth. Despite being a slave, Douglass was of mixed race. His mother was Harriet Bailey, and his father is widely thought to be Captain Anthony Aron who was his master. Douglass says, "the opinion was also whispered that my master was my father" (17). As a child, Douglass was spared the brutality of slave life by being allowed to work in the household instead of working at the farm. At the age of seven years, Douglas is given to Hugh Auld, who is the brother to Captain Anthony's son in law. In Baltimore, the slave owners are more conscious of appearing cruel, and that allows Douglas to enjoy a freezer life than the one in Tuckahoe. It is Hugh's wife who introduces Douglas to education as she starts teaching him to read. However, her husband doesn't like the idea and asks her to stop. Even after Hugh's wife ends teaching him to read and write, Douglas continues to show himself to read and write. The newly acquired knowledge helps Douglas to become aware of the evils of slavery and the existence of the anti-slavery movement. His intelligence allows him to hatch a plan to escape slavery by moving to the north and joining the anti-slavery movement. After a few failed attempts, Douglas escapes to New York and changes his name from Bailey to Douglas for fear of recapture. He marries another freed slave, Anna Murray and they move to Massachusetts. However, Douglas decides to hide the details of his escape to protect other slaves who might attempt to make the trip.

Frederick Douglas decided to write a Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas as a way to campaign for the abolition of slavery. Douglas thought that by describing his life and highlighting the evils of slavery, he might get more people, especially from the north, to join his cause. He felt that a lot of people living in the Northern States were unaware of the events that were taking place in the Southern States. As it turned out, he was right. His book became a best seller as people began taking an interest in the anti-slavery movement after reading Douglas' narrative. Additionally, he was trying to counter the narrative from pro-slavery supporters that depicted black people as intellectually inferior. He wanted to show the world that black people are capable of intelligence and learning. Because of his desire to express his intellectual capacity, Douglas dedicates most of the book to his life story. About a quarter of the book is about the life of slavery as he saw.

After a close reading of Douglas' narrative, the readers can imagine that similarly, situated male slaves did not have any life that extended beyond working in the field. Douglas describes himself as very lucky because he managed to avoid working in the field for most of his life. The reader can, therefore, imagine that the grown-up males were always serving in the field. As for the females, they sometimes managed to work in the household which was preferable than working in the field. However, they frequently suffered sexual exploitation from their masters. Frederick's existence is as a result of the sexual assault of his mother. The readers can only imagine that rape was a common occurrence in these slave farms. Their objectification as sexual tools also placed them at odds with their mistress because of jealousy. Also, Douglas also provides a sense of oppression that extends beyond the boundaries of racial slavery in America. The author's narrative contains various instances of gender-based oppression, especially towards black women. There is the whipping of Aunt Hester, in the first chapter of the book. There is also the Sophia who was forced by her husband to stop teaching Douglas and made her adopt cruel ways to treat her slaves. There is also Caroline who was bought by Mr. Convey for the sole purpose of giving birthCITATION Dou45 \p 55 \l 1033 (Douglass 55).

Looking at Frederick Douglas' life, one can't help but compare it to Benjamin Franklin's. There are similarities between Douglas' life and Franklin's. For starters, Benjamin was self-educated just like Frederick Douglas. Benjamin Franklin was a man who did many things. He was a writer, an inventor, a scientist, a statesman, and a printer. In all these careers, he was only formally educated at printing. Douglas had to overcome difficult situations as a slave, to teach himself how to read and write. Additionally, one can also notice that both figures were writers as evidenced by The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and The Narrative of Fredrick Douglas. On the other hand, there are some differences between the two figures. Benjamin considered education as a means to prepare oneself for success, but he didn't think it is necessary. On the other hand, Douglas viewed education as essential for one to be successful. These features combine to reflect common grounds and conflicting ideologies between two famous historical figures.

References

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: The Anti Slavery Office, 1845. Print.