Paper Topic:

Frederick Douglass` Narrative

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December 3 , 2007

Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , and American Slave

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , an American Slave Frederick Douglass recounts his life of slavery and his eventual flight to freedom . He grew up as a child who barely knew his mother and knew his father was a white man , likely his early master (17 . He was born into a life of hunger and deprivation . Like many slaves of the era he was passed about from

slave-owner to slave-owner with the desired effect of breaking any family ties . The horrors of the starvation , deadly exposure to the elements and senseless brutality left a profound impression on young Douglass . Fortunately the great turning point in his young life occurred when he was placed in a household in which the napve mistress started to teach him to read . Her efforts were halted by her husband and young Douglass recalled his lecture on the reasons slaves should not be educated . However the brief lessons placed within Douglass the desire to continue to learn , by whatever means possible , to read and to write . He had discovered that education and literacy was to be his pathway from slavery to freedom (41 . Douglass illustrates that literacy is the most important asset a man can acquire if he is to achieve life-changing goals , and became the most important facet of his life

Douglass ' new ambition to become literate fueled his desire for freedom His new desire filled him high hope and a fixed purpose ' and his life was fundamentally changed from that early time in life (41 . His quest for literacy was fueled with confidence that his future life would be radically different and he would not rest until he gained his freedom It was not an easy path , and his first attempt at escaping slavery resulted in imprisonment (83 . Miraculously he was retrieved by his master and ultimately returned to his earlier home in Baltimore . There he learns a trade caulking seams in ships , and continues to plot for his eventual freedom

Douglass was methodical in his planning . His trade allowed him to find work on his own , and he was always well-employed in the Baltimore shipyards , to the delight of his Master Hugh . Douglass was required to turn his earnings to his master , but managed to accumulate enough to assist in his escape to the sympathetic north . He describes the tension and emotions that he faced prior to , during , and after his escape Although he claims it is impossible to describe my feelings ' he successfully conveys the thoughts of loosing close friends , the fear of discovery , and the loneliness of being in the midst of thousands and yet a perfect stranger (92-93

Douglass is successful in his flight to freedom in New York and is assisted by David Ruggles , an African American born free in Connecticut who was instrumental in assisting runaway slaves (94 . With the help of Ruggles and other abolitionists...

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