To illustrate his point in the speech, Douglass also uses narrative techniques similar to the ones he uses in his autobiography. Douglass tells a story of how a minister had all the black members of the congregation stand by the door while the whites received the communion. The minister implied that it was God's order that blacks be treated in that way. In another anecdote, Douglass explains that to racist Christians the Kingdom of Heaven is "like a net," that leaves out those with "black scales." Douglass describes a story of a young black girl who received holy Communion. The deacon reluctantly passed the cup to the black girl, but the white woman next to her stormed out of the church. "When the cup containing the precious blood which had been shed for all, came to her, she rose in disdain, and walked out of the church. Such was the religion she had experienced!" Just as Frederick Douglass criticizes the United States for supporting slavery in a supposedly free and just society, he also criticizes Christianity for supporting slavery under the supposed rubric of love and universal brotherhood. In Chapter 7 of his autobiography, Douglass explains how he taught himself how to read and write. The chapter also addresses the philosophical and political role that education plays. Education is one of the main reason why whites are able to subjugate blacks and continue to scourge of slavery. Douglass shows how his Mistress actually wanted to teach him how to read, but was afraid of retribution. The prohibition of education enabled slavery to continue, and also allowed whites to accuse blacks...
Douglass echoes this argument in his speech to the Plymouth County Anti-Slavery Society in 1841. He states, "You degrade us, and then ask why we are degraded -- you shut our mouths, and then ask why we don't speak -- you close our colleges and seminaries against us, and then ask why we don't know more."
slave narrative maintains a unique station in modern literature. Unlike any other body of literature, it provides us with a first-hand account of institutional racially-motivated human bondage in an ostensibly democratic society. As a reflection on the author, these narratives were the first expression of humanity by a group of people in a society where antediluvian pseudo-science had deemed them to be mere animals. These works, although they provide
Equiano Douglas The narratives of Frederick Douglass and Thomas Equiano both offer insight into the African and African-American experiences prior to the Civil War. While both Douglass and Equiano can both easily be classified as abolitionists, their approach to abolitionism and political activism via literature differs significantly. One of the main reasons why Douglass and Equiano differ in their approach is that they wrote during completely different time periods: Equiano nearly
In conclusion, these narratives paint a vivid picture of slave life from the 17th and 18th centuries, and illustrate why slavery was such a vicious and evil institution. Without these narratives, a historical view of slavery would be incomplete, and they illustrate a distressing and immoral element of American history. Slavery differed between the North and the South, but it shared many common characteristics, as slave narratives continue to illustrate. References Abdur-Rahman,
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano The two texts that are very famous for their representation of the Early Black Literature and that have now become a part of the English Literature course in many universities are The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, The Africe, Written By Himself published in the year 1794 and The History of Mary Prince, which was
He was not just some compassionate liberal advocating freedom for the oppressed, he was an actual victim of the system who had risen above it. This strengthened his leadership abilities even further because he was able to use his personal experiences to relate the horrors of slavery to those who had only read about it. When he tells about the cruelty of the slave overseer Mr. Gore, stating "His savage
Narrative of Frederick Douglas, American Slave Numerous authors have written accounts of the horrors of slavery. Some of the most convincing of these accounts were written by actual slaves themselves, a fact which is readily underscored by an analysis of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. However, there is a principle point of distinction between Douglass' work and that of other accounts of the iniquities of slavery,
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now