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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was read for ENG 272H America Texts and Contexts.
This book broke my heart. Many times over.
Mr. Douglass's story is very necessary for all American's to know. It IS very hard to read about how families were separated, human beings sold, beaten, raped, degraded, not be allowed to marry, have children or even keep your children if you DID have them, etc..and that slavery went on for as long as it did. But it's also necessary to know how people suffered at the hands of other human beings. Knowledge is power, and there are still many other forms of slavery going on today that must be stopped.
The strength, determination and tenacity of this man, who against all odds, learned to read, to better himself, to better others, risk his life and escape to freedom is so interesting I did not want to put it down until I was finished with it. I only wish it had been longer. I wanted to read more about his life after escaping to the northeast and freedom.
This book will also put your life in perspective for you. Do you think you have it hard now or suffer? Read what millions of people went through during the years when slavery was allowed and your problems will pale in comparison!
This is a short book that can be read in one day. I strongly recommend it!
Mr. Douglass's story is very necessary for all American's to know. It IS very hard to read about how families were separated, human beings sold, beaten, raped, degraded, not be allowed to marry, have children or even keep your children if you DID have them, etc..and that slavery went on for as long as it did. But it's also necessary to know how people suffered at the hands of other human beings. Knowledge is power, and there are still many other forms of slavery going on today that must be stopped.
The strength, determination and tenacity of this man, who against all odds, learned to read, to better himself, to better others, risk his life and escape to freedom is so interesting I did not want to put it down until I was finished with it. I only wish it had been longer. I wanted to read more about his life after escaping to the northeast and freedom.
This book will also put your life in perspective for you. Do you think you have it hard now or suffer? Read what millions of people went through during the years when slavery was allowed and your problems will pale in comparison!
This is a short book that can be read in one day. I strongly recommend it!
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
A beautifully written book about the terrible early life of Frederick Douglass. The book is his life from birth till shortly after being freed. He mixes his life story with truths about the human condition and the depravety there of. He makes some interesting statement about how religious slave owners were functionally the worst kind and obviously wildly hypocatous. Also how his ability yo educate himself lead to his more concrete codification of his discontentment. He also made the observation that he was most discontented with being a slave when things were relatively good. When in extremely bad circumstances, he only focused on the imidate and not as much the long term or overall condition.
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
reflective
slow-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
"What is an African American Classic?"
Henry Louis Gates Jr., the editor, opens with this question right at the beginning. While many essays and discussions have answered the question as to what makes a book a classic, their answers invariably fall short of describing what makes a text an AA classic, one of which I was holding in my hands. Here Gates tries to fill that gap in our knowledge. He follows the question with a near genius insight into the black experience and the various literary instruments wielded by black writers in weaving that Experience in their literature. No doubt black literature has become a cultural heritage that needs to be cherished and broadly consumed like other canonical classics. And if ever there was a stronger case to advocate this point, it is in the reading of this book.
For the life of me, I can't recall when and where I first came cross Frederick Douglass. He might have been mentioned with other eminent black writers like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin etc. But none of the references ever expanded on his importance or contributions. For a time he was on the fringe of my read radar, popping up now and then but never making it to my choice. Now, having read the first of his three biographical writings, I am convinced of him being the fount of that which birthed the Black Literature in centuries hence.
Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick was separated from his mother soon after his birth. Given to the care of his grandmother, he grew up not knowing his parents. And from early on, this stigma of his unknown beginnings coupled with the whippings and the brutalities visited upon the persons of his fellow slaves, gave wind to his smouldering discontentment with slavery. While his childhood was relatively free from assaults of slavery, for much of his youth he toiled under harsh conditions with occasional respite under relatively kinder masters.
Like a piece of property, he switched hands several times well into his twenties. Capricious luck had his back for a time, but eventually he found himself under the yoke of masters who whipped and worked him to his bone with meager allowances.
He spoke but to command, commanded but to be obeyed.
During his stay with a relatively kinder master, he acquired the knowledge of reading and writing the English letters and took the first tentative step towards his freedom. (His diligence in the pursuit of knowledge makes for an inspiring read). He became wise to the insidiously corrupt practices of the owners and overseers aimed at keeping the slaves ignorant of their rights and deluding them into favoring slavery over freedom.
The news of abolitionists and safe havens for runaway slaves in the North, gave him the push to make an attempt of his own. But this first attempt was thwarted and he ended up as a field hand in direst of states. Years passed as he traversed the brutal landscape of slavery and finally ended up as an employed slave in the city. Here too the fact that he couldn't stake any claim to the money he earned stoked his abhorrence for his condition. And he vowed,
However long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact.
This inner revolt reaching a fever pitch drove him to make his second attempt to escape. And this time he succeeded and made his way to New York. (He withholds the details for obvious reasons.) But even this new found freedom which was the reward of his education and self-improvement, made him a fugitive from the south, always at the danger of getting kidnapped and sold into slavery. Thankfully, luck chipped in again and gave him the company of helpful abolitionists who tided him through his rough beginnings in the North. This marked the end of the first phase of his life as he settled into his married life and took up his last new name "Frederick Douglass", by which he was thereafter known.
Douglass' Narrative makes for a veiled scathing attack on white supremacy. He questions the prevalent practices through the eyes of the oppressed, giving voice to the laments of a race kept in dark for the benefit of the white man.
They gave tongue to interesting thoughts of my own soul, which had frequently flashed through my mind, and died away for want of utterance. The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder.
His attack on their Christian piety is resonated years later in Baldwin's [b:The Fire Next Time|464260|The Fire Next Time|James Baldwin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488825618s/464260.jpg|1129041]. His erudition, against the backdrop of his past, speaks volumes about his mental strength and confidence in his ability to achieve that which he wanted the most or die in the attempt. Luck may have played a part in his escape, but without making the most of his opportunities he definitely would not have made it out. For years hence, he continued servicing the abolitionist cause and gave the world two more biographical writings. If Gates' question had you thinking for an answer, by the end of this book the question would have surely been answered.
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PS:
Read everything if you pick up the Penguin edition. All the introductory reads are important in their own right. One of which is by Douglass' friend.
If possible, watch the awesome documentary: The African Americans, Many Rivers to Cross. Gates' six hour narrative is spellbinding and highly informative.
Read the other two of Douglass' memoirs, just like I plan to do. ;)