Reviews - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Illustrated

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Illustrated

Considering the limited and unorthodox way in which Frederick Douglass was able to learn how to read and write it is extraordinary how well his memoirs are written and how powerful his words are.
Douglass led an incredibly tough life but never do you get the impression he was broken in spirit. His strong character, powerful values, and virtuous spirit remain even after the horrific crimes he witnessed on others or experienced himself during the atrocity of slavery. Yet somehow, he is still able to give an incredibly objective opinion on slavery, religion and the USA which many would forgive him for a much more impassioned perspective.
The ending of the Narrative is a tad disappointing as quite understandably Douglass includes no detail as to how he escaped the horrors of slavery and fled to settle in the North to protect others in the time period who looked to follow in his footsteps. This takes away some of the impact and informative powers of this direct observation of the time period as it censors some of the harshest experiences and lesser known details of the runaway slave.
Nevertheless it is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the USA or looking to form a rounded viewpoint on the modern day social justice perspectives.

alecjira's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

I devoured this text for the American Lit segment of my English Honours degree, and wrote a 2.7k word essay on it.

So while I appreciate it and Douglass's incredibly harrowing journey, I do think that its sexism and the fact that it upholds white normativity in Americanist discourse shouldn't be dismissed.

Slavery was horrific.