“The Narrative of the Life” by Frederick Douglas is a great story told my Frederick Douglas himself about the life he endured as an African American slave during the eighteen hundreds. The story is told in a first person point of view, giving readers a unique insight to the thoughts and feelings of slaves, which is rare considering that many African Americans were not literate during this time. The point of this narration is to show readers something other than the common tales of the victors but rather the cold hard truth of the victims.

From the very beginning of the story, Douglas discusses his weak understanding of his family’s past that contributes to the insecurities he carries concerning his identity. He explains, “I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of those times was very short in duration, and at night” (Douglas 237). As for Douglas’s father, he is mentioned as nothing more than a whispered rumor that claims he was a slaveholder. Despite the hardships Douglas encounters, his tone of voice is always one that is calm and hopeful but also rational. He writes in this manner because he is able to comprehend the outrageousness of the slave system but chooses to fight it with intellectual elegance rather than with futile anger. Having done so, “The Narrative of the Life” has become a great work of literature that is studied to this day even with the years of slavery behind us.

Throughout “The Narrative of the Life,” there is not a single page that does not mention some sort of horrifyingly barbaric punishment laid upon slaves by their masters. Even Douglas’s earliest memory is watching his bounded aunt getting whipped to pieces and hearing her blood curdling screams as each lash strikes her back. I believe that it is this very memory along with his own beatings that aspired him to be more than just a slave, a piece of property that could be handled in any which way a master desires. Once Henry and John (slaves of Mr. Freeland) taught Douglas how to read, he knew that literacy was his escape. Instead of participating in degrading activities such as drinking and boxing during the Sabbath day, Douglas took the time to teach other slaves how to read. On page 273 of the book, Douglas says, “I taught them, because it was the delight of my soul to be doing something that looked like bettering the condition of my race” (273). I believe that it was through literacy and his ability to teach others that enabled Douglas to overcome his ambiguous origin and status as a slave. Literature had shown him he was destined to be much, much more.