Navya Joseph- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Chapter 3, page 243, last paragraph

In this passage, Frederick Douglass describes how Colonel Lloyd would treat old Barney and young Barney, two slaves responsible for caring for Colonel Lloyd’s horses. Tending to the horses was not an easy job as both Barneys “never knew when they were safe from punishment” (Douglass 243). It seemed like no matter how much attention and effort they put into caring for the horses, Colonel Lloyd always found something wrong and for that, they were punished very severely. I think this passage points to something beyond the animalistic treatment slaves were put through. So, whenever Colonel Lloyd would take out a horse he would complain often, saying things like, “This horse has not had proper attention… he has not been properly fed… he was too hot or too cold” (Douglass 243). The treatment of slaves is often described as animalistic and everything about it was, with the whippings, stripping them from their families, having masters and no freedom. But this passage reveals an irony, in that the animals that both Barneys took care of were being treated better than themselves. Colonel Lloyd was more concerned about the horse’s comfort, whether it ate enough or it was too cold for them when these are the same things that slaves are almost deprived of. Frederick Douglass describes prior to this, in Chapter 2, how slaves were not given proper clothing or enough food to survive for the whole year. But here is Colonel Lloyd worrying that his horses had too much hay while he continues to treat his human counterparts less than animals. This added to my understanding that slaves did not equate to anything, even animals had a better life than them, and society made sure to constantly remind them by putting them through situations as the Barneys went through.