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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a piece of writing that I hoped, and expected, to read while getting my degree in English. Unfortunately, my American Lit. part one professor preferred the awful works of white men to any quality works by women or African Americans, so I took it upon myself to read this piece, as it is a staple of American literature.
Douglass was born a slave and remained a slave for the early part of his adulthood. He moved from master-to-master until he escaped to freedom. What makes Douglass' story unique from other slave narratives is that Douglass was taught to read and write by an early master's wife. From there he secretly continued learning to read and write by any possible means and wrote Narrative unaided and published it in 1845. Douglass went on to be a very important figure in the Abolitionist movement and spoke against racism publicly for the rest of his life.
I really enjoyed this short narrative. Douglass is endlessly smart and compassionate and communicates his experiences to the reader in a matter-of-fact manner that make his narrative impossible to deny or ignore. This is not an easy read, but it would be a disservice to history and the experiences of many if it was. It's not overly graphic, Douglass does not rely on shock-value or emotionally preach to his reader, he just relays his experiences and that is enough. I found Douglass' thoughts on religion and religion's role in slavery quite interesting, and I really enjoyed his writing voice. Douglass is a person I would love to learn more about as a human and in regards to his role in anti-slavery activism.
I highly recommend checking this one out if you are interested in American history, slavery, or African American activists. I'll leave you with some of Douglass' wise words, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence."
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a piece of writing that I hoped, and expected, to read while getting my degree in English. Unfortunately, my American Lit. part one professor preferred the awful works of white men to any quality works by women or African Americans, so I took it upon myself to read this piece, as it is a staple of American literature.
Douglass was born a slave and remained a slave for the early part of his adulthood. He moved from master-to-master until he escaped to freedom. What makes Douglass' story unique from other slave narratives is that Douglass was taught to read and write by an early master's wife. From there he secretly continued learning to read and write by any possible means and wrote Narrative unaided and published it in 1845. Douglass went on to be a very important figure in the Abolitionist movement and spoke against racism publicly for the rest of his life.
I really enjoyed this short narrative. Douglass is endlessly smart and compassionate and communicates his experiences to the reader in a matter-of-fact manner that make his narrative impossible to deny or ignore. This is not an easy read, but it would be a disservice to history and the experiences of many if it was. It's not overly graphic, Douglass does not rely on shock-value or emotionally preach to his reader, he just relays his experiences and that is enough. I found Douglass' thoughts on religion and religion's role in slavery quite interesting, and I really enjoyed his writing voice. Douglass is a person I would love to learn more about as a human and in regards to his role in anti-slavery activism.
I highly recommend checking this one out if you are interested in American history, slavery, or African American activists. I'll leave you with some of Douglass' wise words, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence."
This book is not bad, but I've had to read it so many times for school, in so many different classes, that I don't want to see this book ever again.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
reflective
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
All novels documenting the struggles and woes of slavery, this book alongside "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (which I read this Douglass novel as a supplement) and "Up from Slavery", stretching to the woes of Reconstruction as seen in "The Souls of Black Folk", evoke feeling in every inch of my being. To think that my people were degraded in every way possible and to think of our advancement through the decades following our liberation does nothing short of stunning me and causing my mind to want to read every account of every injustice levied upon us. And to think that Douglass' account was one coming from a Mid-Atlantic slave region, where the slaves were reportedly treated with more care and tenderness!
As I mentioned, I read this novel alongside "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and one thing that stuck out to me in both tales was the depiction and description of Christianity when it comes to the institution of slavery. In both tales, Christianity is revealed as being utilized as a defense for slavery--"that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,--a justifier of the most appalling barbarity." We see specific passages i.e. Ephesians 6:5 "slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling." etc. being used by these slavemasters to justify their peculiar institutions wherein they preach the gospel of loving thy neighbor but then abuse their brother on their plantations. It's a wonder how some of these same passages were then utilized by abolitionists and it is too a wonder how Douglass proclaimed time and time again that it would be solely through the grace of God that he could make it to the Promised Land.
Another commonality that struck me was the mention of the institution of slavery eroding the morals of slaveowners as well as the slaves. Douglass speaks of his master's wife and how the institution absolutely corrupted her heart, turning her from a kind and altruistic woman into something completely fiendish. This evolution was so stark and sudden, all stemming from the power found by the woman in possessing a being. This incident shows how drastic slave-owning can shift someone.
In summary, this narrative is short but features an array of horrors, all one in the same institution. Douglass truly progressed "Up from Slavery", learning how to read and write when that was forbidden to slaves. He escaped the slave-holding states, along a route that he would not disclose so that it could be safe to future escapees in the future which, to me, was beyond genius. He is remembered as the pinnacle of a black MAN and as an immaculate orator, grasping the language and its words as if he had known them his entire life. What an incredible story!
As I mentioned, I read this novel alongside "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and one thing that stuck out to me in both tales was the depiction and description of Christianity when it comes to the institution of slavery. In both tales, Christianity is revealed as being utilized as a defense for slavery--"that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,--a justifier of the most appalling barbarity." We see specific passages i.e. Ephesians 6:5 "slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling." etc. being used by these slavemasters to justify their peculiar institutions wherein they preach the gospel of loving thy neighbor but then abuse their brother on their plantations. It's a wonder how some of these same passages were then utilized by abolitionists and it is too a wonder how Douglass proclaimed time and time again that it would be solely through the grace of God that he could make it to the Promised Land.
Another commonality that struck me was the mention of the institution of slavery eroding the morals of slaveowners as well as the slaves. Douglass speaks of his master's wife and how the institution absolutely corrupted her heart, turning her from a kind and altruistic woman into something completely fiendish. This evolution was so stark and sudden, all stemming from the power found by the woman in possessing a being. This incident shows how drastic slave-owning can shift someone.
In summary, this narrative is short but features an array of horrors, all one in the same institution. Douglass truly progressed "Up from Slavery", learning how to read and write when that was forbidden to slaves. He escaped the slave-holding states, along a route that he would not disclose so that it could be safe to future escapees in the future which, to me, was beyond genius. He is remembered as the pinnacle of a black MAN and as an immaculate orator, grasping the language and its words as if he had known them his entire life. What an incredible story!
This a great book to gain an insight into what slavery was like. Douglass tells his tale with pathos and without exaggeration and is a testament to his determine and hardwork to educate himself.
I specially like how he explained why slaverholders were cruel. I had a "ahuh" momont when I realised the obvious and simple truth that since slavery was so immoral and slaverholders practised it often to very large scale the natural result their own personal character degenerating morally. Also added to this was the necessary of cruel practices to keep people in slavery.
I read this book to see what slavery was really like after reading "Gone with the Wind" which protrays slavery in a very kind light. I knew Margaret Mitchell's protrayal was inaccurate and wanted to see the true picture. I now know she was very biased and as I explained above, her portrayal of a kind of utopia of slavery is impossible.
I specially like how he explained why slaverholders were cruel. I had a "ahuh" momont when I realised the obvious and simple truth that since slavery was so immoral and slaverholders practised it often to very large scale the natural result their own personal character degenerating morally. Also added to this was the necessary of cruel practices to keep people in slavery.
I read this book to see what slavery was really like after reading "Gone with the Wind" which protrays slavery in a very kind light. I knew Margaret Mitchell's protrayal was inaccurate and wanted to see the true picture. I now know she was very biased and as I explained above, her portrayal of a kind of utopia of slavery is impossible.
This book is so powerful. We can't be silent in the face of injustice, we can't be complacent. Educating ourselves is the first step but it isn't enough - we need to speak out loudly. This book is surely going to make me rethink my approach to the injustices we still face today.