The Narrative Of Frederick Do Essay Research — страница 2

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himself as more than just black property. His self-perspective changed when he tasted his first bit of knowledge. It was then that his mind opened up and he began to think. He found out that there was more out there…that there was opportunity out there for himself and his people. He looked at his own situation and became angry. He became angry with the life he was subject to. He became mad at the idea of slavery. He also gained pride. This was pride of a human being. He realized that he himself was a human being, and that his black brothers and sisters also were human beings. It also gave him agony, because it had given him a view of his, wretched condition, without the remedy. This depressed him to the extent that he wanted to kill himself. But, the realization that he was

something in the world, kept him living, and fighting. After this education, his self notion changed so much that he would actually fight back if a white man came after him. He would no longer be treated as he had been treated his whole life. The personality of Frederick Douglass is one that changes throughout the narrative. At the beginning of the narrative, he had the personality of an unfortunate child born into the evils of slavery. He depicted everything seen through the eyes of a child during the early stages of the narrative. Everything remained this way until he became educated. It was then that the personality began to change, just as his notion of self changed at that point. He began to change inwardly. His personality seemed to morph into something different from what

it had been. He began to think more maturely and in a more educated fashion. He seethed from the inside and internally emitted hatred as a reaction to the evils of slavery. All the while he thought. He thought about his condition, the condition of others slaves, and of escaping. His esteem was uplifted from the education, as said previously, and therefore his personality reflected that. He held himself higher and because of that he changed throughout the narrative. He no longer was like a child looking at everything, not able to do anything, and naive to the world. Now he was like fire, burning hotter and hotter, engulfing everything, ready to explode. The tone changed after this point as he expressed his hatred of his knowledgeably existence. He suppressed much of it, but his

personality changed. It stayed this way throughout the rest of the narrative. At times his personality seemed patient. These were the times where he had to wait for the time to come, when he could then let the fire come out…where he could let his true personality come out and escape to freedom. With his relationship to slavery and his personality he related to the reader. He had the biases of slaves. He depicted everything as he saw or thought. This is not a fault, but merely the reaction of anyone who would go through such events in his life. Even if Frederick Douglass tried to write an unbiased narrative, it still is one sided. He relates to the reader as one who is telling a story about himself. It does not seem that he is trying to sway anyone, but just telling it as it was

for him. He includes the feelings, the details, the horrors of his life. He writes about how he was treated and the evils of slavery. It describes the whipping in detail. He tells us of the shrieks of pain and the blood. Also he tells of the fear of the white man and of punishment. Whenever he tells of a white person he does not speak very kindly. Even when describes Master Hugh s wife as, a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings he then turns around and says how she changed to a woman of, harsh and horrid discord . Of course not all white men are evil. It seems that he relates by trying to show how in every way slavery is corrupt as exemplified through the life that he lived and what he experienced. It seems that nothing good was ever achieved through it. It is when he

escapes and is free that he speaks of good things such as life, work, and abolition. In speaking like this he tells the reader that there is nothing good in slavery – that only when there is no slavery good things happen. It is not hard to see such things in his writings. The message is obvious and because of that people relate. In my view the autobiography is a depiction of the evils of slavery. That is its point. It was written by a former slave and therefore contains the perspective of the slave. When the personality change and the transition of self esteem is seen in the novel, one can conclude that there are underlying meanings throughout the narrative. Such meanings are the importance of education, and the clich of ignorance is bliss . That does not concern me at all. Of