Essay on Frederick Douglass: Blessing in Disguise, Joy and Depression in Education

Frederick Douglass found both joy and depression while gaining an education. How does Douglass ultimately understand that his education was a blessing and not a curse?

The life of Fredrick Douglass has been described as horrific and described by numerous hardships, that reshaped him. His determination and devotion to learning severally turned to be a success, and an ultimate blessing that he used to his advantage, despite the prevailed racial discrimination that made it very cumbersome for the black niggers to find perfect jobs, that were reserved for the whites. The entire process of Douglass obtaining education may be described as a moment of joy and blessing rather than a curse, as Douglass believes. Therefore, the essay will critically elucidate, on how Douglass education may be described as a blessing as opposed to a curse.

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Fredric Douglass was born and raised in abject poverty, growing up without knowledge of his age and father was a common practice, especially for may slaves (Douglass, p.3). Moreover, it was not long before he was taken from the care of his mother at a tender age, thereby, he lost not only the care from his parent but the connection between him and his mother. Therefore, by the time his mother passed, Douglass was less remorse about her due to the family separation and being brought up by a different guardian.

He soon found homeless under the ruthlessness of his muster and subjected to harsh labour with little food. The harsh environment and haterade gathered in the early days soon moulded into haterate and forcing him to fuse himself with other slaves, whom he considered as a family. To him, the groups of slaves and the time he spent together became part of his daily life. However, when Douglass finally escapes from his master without his friends his confronted by a moment of loneliness. Moreover, he yearned to reunite back with his friends, who had become part of his family.

One of the ways of escaping from the chains of slavery was through learning how to read and write. Douglass view on this matter was that learning was the only way to escape from his malevolent master and the chains of slavery. The struggle of Douglass and the rest of the slaves in the narrative highly elucidates the problem experienced by the slave, since they had little to offer when it came to education. Therefore, Douglass viewed education as the gateway from slavery and a gate pass to his freedom.

When Douglass starts learning to read and write in his master's place aided by the master's mistress, the master staunchly rebukes and warns about teaching the black man. Through this, Douglas's zest and zeal to learn becomes his first priority and a means of washing his identity in the river of freedom. When Douglass gains a better understanding of learning and writing a sense of hate engulfs him, especially on those who enslaved him. Through his learning, he understands that slaves were stolen from Africa, denied their essential lives, and further subjected to harsh conditions without fundamental human rights. However, to Douglass, he feels that holding such information with him was a curse rather than a blessing. For a man of his capacity, without any social effect, it was the right act to feel the same. Never the less the obtained knowledge through reading played a vital role in his life.

First, the issue of slavery became apparent to him that slaves are human being but rather subjected to oppression by a handful of people. More so, he learned that slaves were mistreated because they did not know their right, and testifying against the white was not equally welcomed.

Conclusion

In the bottom line, Douglass education may be considered more of a blessing and a key to escape the ruthlessness of slavery. Most of the slaves were subjected to slavery due to lack of reading and writing. Therefore, slaves knew less about their rights and origin. However, for the determined like Douglass, learning to read and write gave them the power to understand more than what he knew when he was a slave. Douglass education knowledge can be considered to be more of a blessing than a curse.

Work Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. Dreamscape Media, LLC, 2019.