Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Section 1: Expository Writing

The Narrative opens with the exposition, where Douglass explaining the
little he knows about his birth in Talbot County, Maryland. He didnt know his
father or his birthday because such information was often kept from slaves,
which was lamentable and bothersome to him throughout his life. It was
assumed that his first master, Captain Anthony, was his father. Here and
throughout the narrative, Douglass criticizes the practice of white slave
owners raping slaves to satisfy their sexual desires and expanding their slave
population.
In the next several chapters, Douglass describes the horrible conditions and
treatment towards the slave. Anthony was the superintendent for Colonel
Lloyd, one of Marylands wealthiest slaveholders. Douglass resided at the
plantation at a young age. He witnessed the brutal beatings and meager
allowances given by the masters. The Great House Farm was honored by the
slaves to brag about their masters and avoid punishment, but within the
farm, slaves would cry songs to relieve their sorrows.
The story begins to rise in action, when Douglass is around seven years of
age. He is sent to Baltimore to live with the Hugh Aulds family to care for
their son, Thomas.1 Mrs. Auld is the first kind white lady Douglass
encounters. She refused to treat him with disrespect and even taught him to
read until her husband intervenes; Douglass continues his lessons by trading
bread with poor neighborhood white boys for lessons and by using Thomas'
books to practice writing. Not long after, Douglass obtained a copy of the
Columbian Orator, which taught him the evils of slavery and emancipation.
After Anthonys death, all his property is divided among his two children.
Douglass happened to remain with Master Hugh but a conflict with Mr.
Thomas brought Douglass to Thomas instead. Thomas was a hypocritical
Christian; Douglass hated Thomas for misusing religion as a way to justify his
abusive actions towards his slaves.2 Douglass and Thomas did not have a
great relationship; Thomas decided to send Douglass to the slave-breaker,
Mr. Covey.
Douglass spends a year with Mr. Covey. Living with him was the worst point
of Douglass life. At one point, Douglass contemplated death as a solution to
his problems. Mr. Covey physically and mentally broke Douglass; Douglass
lost his passion to read and even escape. The narrative reaches the climax
when Douglass decides to retaliate against Mr. Coveys irrational beatings,
This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It
rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense

of my own manhood (Douglass 728). For the duration of his stay on the
farm, Covey did not dare to touch him, and Douglass believed it was for
Covey to keep his reputation as a slave breaker that prevented him from
continuing the beatings.
The falling action occurs after a year Douglass term with Covey ends and
he is sent to William Freeland. Among his many masters, Freeland was by far
the best; he was fair and honest with his slaves. At this time, Douglass
started a Sunday school for almost forty slaves, teaching them how to read
and write. He resolved to devise a plan to escape with his new friends, fully
aware of the dangers that awaited them. However, their plan was spoiled
and Douglass was returned to Hugh Auld.
When he returns to the city, Douglass is first introduced and taught the skill
of caulking.3 First, Douglass run errands for the shipyard workers. Afraid that
the white men would lose their jobs, they beat Douglass. After this event,
Douglass works for a different shipyard and excels at his skill of ship
caulking. The wages that Douglass earns is handed over to Auld. However,
Douglass is allowed to pocket some money, which he saves for his escape to
New York. In order to avoid suspicions of his escape, he works continuously.
Although he loathed to part from his friends in Baltimore, he knew his future
lies in the North.4
In the Resolution, Frederick finally escapes to New York. Although he should
be filled with joy, Frederick feels rather lost and lonely in the large city. A
man of the name, David Ruggles, guides him in the new city and even joins
him with his love, Anna. The two newlyweds move to New Bedford where
their chances of being discovered are lower. Douglass works and carries
responsibilities like an independent man. He even changes his name to
Frederick Douglass, suggested by a friend who read, Lady of the Lake.
During his time in New Bedford, Douglass encounters a prominent
abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator and is compelled to attend an antislavery convention.5 Furthermore, he was asked to speak; Douglass used the
spotlight to enlighten the audience with his story. After sharing his
experience, Douglass concludes the story saying that, From that time until
now, I have been engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren (749).
1. Simple sentence 2. Semicolon - connecting two independent
clauses 3. Compound Complex 4. Complex 5. Compound Complex

Section 2: Descriptive Writing

Frederick Douglass was born as a slave and faced the horrors of slavery early in
his life. As a child, Douglass grappled with his identity, The white children could
tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege
(Douglass 698). He knew nothing of his parents or his birth date. Many slaves
were much like Douglass; it was a common practice to dehumanize slaves by
robbing them of their identity. In consequence, he lost his mother and never
knew his father. At the time of his mothers death, Douglass remembered that
her death meant nothing more than a strangers pass away. Before Douglass
was enlightened with knowledge, he was ignorant like every other slave, and too
blind to see the injustice. It was only years later, when he regret his lack of
emotion towards his dying mother. But at the time, Douglass was ignorant and
although he did question the difference between him and the other white kids,
he accepted all the hardships and injustice he faced.
6

When Douglass was approximately eighty years of age, he was sent to Baltimore
to live with Hugh Auld and care for his son, Thomas. Upon his first encounter
with the family, he was treated with great kindness by Sophia Auld; however her
husband eventually disapproved of her kind attempts to teach Frederick how to
read and write. By reasoning with Sophia, Hugh mistakenly reveals to Douglass
the power which the white men have over their slaves. Upon hearing this,
Douglass strives at all cost to absorb all knowledge, by the merest accident, I
had gained from my master. Though conscious of the difficulty of learning
without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever
cost of trouble, to learn how to read (743). His thirst for knowledge extends to
giving his bread to the poor white boys in exchange for their knowledge. He
continues to satisfy his thirst for knowledge by purchasing books such as the
Columbian Orator which decried slavery and taught him the evils of slavery.
Despite knowing the troubles he may face for pursuing education, Douglass
insisted to purchase newspapers and books where he discovered abolitionist
movements in the North.
Seen as a rebellious teenager by Thomas Auld, Douglass was sent to the
ferocious slave-breaker, Mr. Covey. Covey beat Douglass mercilessly day by day
and often without any justifications. During these days, Douglass regrets filling
his mind with hope for freedom and contemplates death, It was this everlasting
thinking of my condition that tormented me (715). However Douglass refuses
to endure the brutal beatings and retaliates. The moment he resisted Coveys
beatings, Douglass feels that, This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point
in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and

revived within me a sense of my own manhood (Douglass 728).

After a few more moves to different masters, Douglass finds himself back with
Mr. Auld, who rents him out to work in the shipyards. Douglass friendly
optimistic personality is shown throughout the next few chapters. He is able to
earn a little money from his job and begins to save for his escape to New York
City. Although he feels lonely and lost in New York, he is motivated to stay. He
changes his name to Douglass to disguise himself and moves to New Bedford
with his wife Anna. In 1841, Douglass is compelled to attend anti-slavery
meetings in Nantucket and befriends other abolitionists. Douglass uses his
narrative as a way to draw more abolitionists to his cause.
6. Compound complex

Section 3: Analytical Writing

Education is the key to freedom
At a young age, Douglass realizes that education is the key to freedom.
Douglass narrative explains how the white slaveholders were able to
maintain power of the slaves; slaveholders kept their slaves ignorant and
forbid them knowledge through education. Moreover, if slaves could not
write, their dreadful stories could not be heard. Slave owners knew that
education can give the slaves a sense of capability and understanding.
Slave owners even robbed slaves of their identity. Like Douglass, it was a
common practice to separate slaves at the time of birth and never knew
their birth date.
To break the oppression, slaves must seek knowledge and education in
order to acquire freedom. This vital piece of information was distributed
to Douglass mistakenly by Hugh Auld. As Auld reprimands his wife for
teaching Douglass how to read and write, he reveals to Douglass the
strategy behind the slavery institution, The very decided manner with
which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil
consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he
was deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best
assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results
which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read (Douglass 743).
From this point, Douglass strives toward pursuing his own education as
the primary means of freeing himself. Douglass even shares this
knowledge with his fellow slaves. Douglass knows how valuable
education is, he also knows the challenges he faces if he continues to
pursue the path of education. Knowledge is a means to help slaves
recognize the injustice they face and express it to others. It helps them
recognize themselves as men rather than property.
At first, Douglass regrets his decision to fill his mind with his newfound
knowledge. Rather than finding immediate freedom, his new sense of

conscious brings unbearable suffering. Just as Hugh Auld predicted,

Douglass finds that he is unhappy and wishes to be ignorant like the
other slaves. He is constantly taunted by the fact that he may stay and
die as a slave, In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their
stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of
the meanest reptile to my own. Anything, no matter what, to get rid of
thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented
me (715). However, Douglass perseveres and fulfills his dream of
becoming a freeman.

Section 4: Literary Analysis

In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Douglass writes in chapter five:

"You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains,
and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before
the bloody whip! You are freedom's swift-winged angels, that fly round the
world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I were free! O, that I were on
one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing! Alas! betwixt me
and you, the turbid waters roll. Go on,go on. O that I could also go! Could I
but swim! If I could fly! O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute!
The glad ship is gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am left in the hottest
hell of unending slavery. O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free!
Is there any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. I will not stand it.Get
caught, or get clear, I'll try it. I had as well die with ague as the fever. I have
only one life to lose. I had as well be killed running as die
standing( Douglass 725).
Frederick Douglass utilizes symbolism to emphasize the differences between
his current state as a slave and the freeness of a boat. Douglass describes
features of the boat to those of himself. Readers cannot help but pity that
even a man-made machine can experience the beauty of freedom while
Douglass is left in the hottest hell of unending slavery. This passage is an
apostrophe, a digression which is addressed to an inanimate being. Frederick
rhetorically speaks out of injustice and hopelessness.
Towards the end of chapter 5, Douglass states that:
In coming to a fixed determination to run away, we did more than Patrick
Henry, when he resolved upon liberty or death. With us it was a doubtful

liberty at most, and almost certain death if we failed. For my part, I should
prefer death to hopeless bondage (737).
This passage alludes to Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry is well known for his
quote Give me liberty or give me death. He applies this quote to his
situation as a slave. Douglass is writing to fellow Americans and by alluding
to a renowned and highly acclaimed man as Patrick Henry, he heightens the
climax. He is trying to implement an image in the American minds that his
freedom is no different than the freedom of America from England. Douglass
portrays himself and his slave friends as braver than the fathers of the
country because at least the fathers of the country had a chance at this
liberty they speak of while Douglass is lucky to obtain the same liberty.

Nearing the end of the narrative, Douglass describes his arrival in New York:
Let him be a fugitive slave in a strange land--a land given up to be the
hunting-ground for slaveholders--whose inhabitants are legalized
kidnappers--where he is every moment subjected to the terrible liability of
being seized upon by his fellowmen, as the hideous crocodile seizes upon his
prey!--I say, let him place himself in my situation--without home or friends-without money or credit--wanting shelter, and no one to give it--wanting
bread, and no money to buy it,--and at the same time let him feel that he is
pursued by merciless men-hunters, and in total darkness as to what to do,
where to go, or where to stay,--perfectly helpless both as to the means of
defense and means of escape,--in the midst of plenty, yet suffering the
terrible gnawing of hunger,--in the midst of houses, yet having no home,-among fellow-men, yet feeling as if in the midst of wild beasts, whose
greediness to swallow up the trembling and half-famished fugitive is only
equaled by that with which the monsters of the deep swallow up the helpless
fish upon which they subsist,--I say, let him be placed in this most trying
situation,--the situation in which I was placed,--then, and not till then, will he
fully appreciate the hardships of, and know how to sympathize with, the toilworn and whip-scarred fugitive slave (744).

Douglass wants readers to note all the animal metaphors in the passage. He
suggests that even after he escaped to freedom, its like living in a jungle at
the mercy of wild animals. The metaphor highlights his struggle of being a
fugitive slave. He is constantly taunted by the chance of getting kidnapped
and returned back to slavery. Douglass cannot trust even his fellow mates for
fear that they may be traitors. Douglass is challenging other men to
experience his situation of having nothing but fearing everything. He
believes that only until the white men experience his pain, can they be able
to sympathize with the, whip-scarred fugitive slave.
7. Colon: Use the colon to introduce a direct quotation that is more than three lines in
length.