- Realist
- 1st chapter - known first scene with whipping
- Mr. Colby section
- Twain does racism, Douglass does slavery
- Slave Narrative
Slave Narrative
- Direct address
- Depictions of violence/cruelty
- Depictions of the reality of sexual abuse
- Descriptions of the writer's desire for freedom
- Accounts of distinctions between whites good/bad
- Douglass says benevolence & Christianity have nothing to do with slavery - owners claim its the reason learns to read and write
- Identity issue - am I human? Am I American?
- Hypocrisy of slavery - in a country where all men are equal
Essay themes:
- Freedom
- Identity
- Religion
- Economy
- History
- Writers as product of their time
- Femininity
- ism piece
irony=American lit - we don't live up to their ideals
- Born February 1818 - Died February 20, 1895
- African-American social reform, abolitionist, orator (public speaker), writer, and statesman
- Escaped from slavery
- Leader of the abolitionist movement
- gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings
- He stood as a living counter - example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens.
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave - 1845
- Spoke to the nations egalitarian -
- of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities
- Much like Benjamin Franklin
- Douglass actively supported women's suffrage
- Held several political offices
- First African American nominated for Vice President with his running mate Victoria Woodhull
- "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong" ~Frederick Douglass
- In Baltimore, experience more freedoms than his more southern counterparts
- Escaped to New York around the age of 20
- Settled further North in Massachusetts
- Changed last name from Bailey to Douglass
- One of the few black men employed by mostly, white society
- Merely relate "facts" of his experience
- Leave out philosophy, rhetoric, & persuasive arguments
- Using real names/places gave credibility
- But had to flee the US for 2 years
- Attention to women's Rights movement
- Civil War
- Abolish Slavery
- Black men fight in the Union side of the war
- Successful on both fronts
- Blacks only paid half of white men in Union army
- Union won April 9, 1865
Themes - fundamental and often universal ideas
- Ignorance as a Tool of slavery
- Keeping slaves ignorant
- people believed slavery was a natural state of being
- literacy would bring slaves to question the right of whites to keep slaves
- maintain control in South of what the rest of the country knows about slavery
- Knowledge as a Path to Freedom
- Slaves must pursue knowledge and education to be free
- Slavery's damaging effects on Slaveholders
- The corrupt and irresponsible power that slave owners enjoyed over their slaves
- Slaveholding as a Perversion of Christianity
Motifs - Reoccuring structures, contrasts, or literary devices
- The victimized female slaves
- The treatment of slaves as property
- Freedom in the city
Symbols - objects, characters, figures, or colors
- White - sailed ships
- Sandy's post - traditional African approach to religion & belief
- The Columbian Orator - a collection of political essays, poems, & dialogues. Symbol not only of human rights, but also the power of eloquence and articulation
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
- Published 1845
- describes the events of his life
- One of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the U.S.
- Abolitionist movement - movement of the African Civil War to end Slavery.
Chapters 1-4
- explains that he doesn't know the date of his birth
- mother died when he was 7 years old
- few memories of his mother, especially because children were often separated from their mothers. Only rare night visits.
- thinks his father is a white man, possibly his owner
- Early age sees his Aunt Hester being whipped
- Cruel interaction between slave and slave holders
- that fear keeps them where they are
- when they tell the truth they are punished by their owners
Chapters 5-7
- Douglass moves to Baltimore, MD
- Believes if he had not moved he would have remained a slave his whole life
- New mistress, Mrs. Sophia Auld
- Begins a kind woman but eventually turns cruel
- Learns the alphabet & small words from her
- Mr. Auld believes slaves are unfit to learn language
- Makes them unfit to be slaves
- Unmanageable and sad
- Realizes the importance of learning to read and write
- At times his newfound skill torments him
- Gains the understanding of the word Abolition
- Runs away to the North
- Learns how to read and write well
Chapters 8-9
- At the age of 10 or 11 - Master dies and his property is left to be divided between his son and his daughter
- Slaves value along side livestock
- Sent back to Baltimore to live with the family of Master Hugh
- Moved through a few more situations before being sent to St. Michael's
- Regrets not trying to run away but notes he's moving in a NE fashion and makes mental note
- Lives with Master Thomas Auld who is cruel, even after attending a Methodist Camp
- Lent to Mr. Covey for a year, happy because he would be fed.
- Mr. Covey is known as a "negro-breaker," who breaks the will of all slaves
Chapter 10-11
- Under the control of Mr. Covey, F.D. bites his hand and has a hard time at the tasks required of him
- Harshly beat almost weekly basis
- sometimes due to his awkwardness
- Worked and beaten to exhaustion which causes him to collapse in the fields one day
- Covey tries to tie up Douglass but he fights back
- 2 hour battle, Douglass conquers
- Never beaten again
- Another plantation
- befriends slaves
- teaches them to read and write
- Plans to escape
- caught and jailed, 2 years
- Sent to Baltimore but learn a trade
- apprentice to the shipyard
- abused by several whites; 4 nearly gouge out his left eye
- Master Hugh won't allow him to go back to shipyard.
- tries to find a lawyer but all say can only help white man
- Sophia Auld, who turned cruel, took pity on Douglass
- tended to his eye until it healed
- Employed by a caulker and receives wages
- forced to give every cent to Master Auld
- Finds his own job
- plans date for escape to the North
- Succeeds but doesn't give details so he doesn't incriminate those who helped him.
- also ensures possibilities for other slaves to escape
- Unites with fiancé
- Begins working as own master
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- Published May 1, 1845
- 4 month, 5,000 copies sold
- By 1860 - 30,000 copies sold
- After publication sailed to England and Ireland for fear of being recaptured
- Britain and Ireland - Gained supporters who paid $710.96 for his freedom
- Offset the demeaning way white people view him
- Opened several doors for Anti-slavery movement
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Main Characters
- Frederick Douglass
- Narrator & protagonist.
- uneducated, oppressed slave to worldly and articulate political commentator. dramatizes between his younger and older self
- Sophia Auld
- transforms from kind caring woman who owns no slaves to an excessively cruel slave owner.
- Appears more realistic & humane than other characters because we see her character in progress.
- Eventually less than a character and more of an illustration against slavery
- Edward Covey
- Douglass's Nemasis.
- Typically villain figure
- Not a victim to the slavery mentality but a naturally evil man who finds an outlet for his cruelty through slavery
- "negro-breaker"
- Captain Anthony - Douglass's first master & probably his father
- Colonel Edward Lloyd - Capt'n Anthony's boss and Douglass's 1st owner
- Lucretia Auld - Capt'n Anthony's daughter & Thomas Auld's wife
- Captain Thomas Auld - gained slaves through marriage to Lucretia. Hugh Auld's brother
- Hugh Auld - Douglass's occasional master
- Sophia Auld - Hugh Auld's wife
- Betsy Bailey - Douglass's grandmother
- Aunt Hester - Aunt
- Harriet Bailey - Douglass's mother
- Sandy Jenkins - slave acquaintance
- William Freelend - keeper for 2 years following Mr. Covey
- William Hamilton - father-in-law of Thomas Auld
- William Gardner - Baltimore shipbuilder
- Anna Murray - Douglass's wife
- Nathan Johnson - MA worker & Abolitionist
- William Lloyd Garrison - founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society
- Wendell Phillips - President of the American Anti-Slavery Society
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