1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
2. What does he mean, on p.238, when he describes the first whipping he witnessed as, “the blood-stained gate”?
3. What have you learned from reading this narrative that you didn’t already know about slavery in America?
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
5. How does Douglass feel about Southern Christianity? Why?
23 thoughts on “Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”
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What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
Frederick Douglass opens his autobiography by describing that he grew up not knowing his age, his mother, and his father. He was never told about his age and this makes him feel like both he lost basic human rights and that he is treated like an animal or specifically the horses that slave owners use. His mother was taken away from him for many reasons but the lasting impact on Frederick Douglass is that when she dies, it means the same of when a stranger dies. Douglass also does not know his father but according to gossip, his father is the slave master which leads him to being mistreated. This combination of unfortunate events to open his autobiography is different from other biographies such as Rousseau’s where he describes himself as unique and special. Frederick Douglass grew up knowing he was not special.
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
sorry, I just submitted my comment in accident.
I think by describing his early years of his life, Douglass is able to depicts to his audience what has happened to him, and what shapes him become who he is. In Douglass’s narrative, I can see the reasons why he is eager to learn, to write, and to fight for the freedom of slaves. I can also see how difficulty is the live of slaves, and why it’s important for slaves to be literate in order to gain their justices. In the same manner, I believe Douglass is not only just writing his personal story in his autobiography, but also trying to spread his messages of inhumanity of slaveholders as well as the dehumanization of slaves. He also reveals some turning point of his life and the importance knowledge for him. He vividly depicts his personal experience of being forced to separate with his mother, his aunt being torture by his master, his body has never being covered by the fine cloth, and so on. These experience his not only his own unique experience, but also the common experiences of all slaves. This way of memoir gives a strong shocking to all the readers, and draw people’s attention that these kinds of inhuman tortures actually happen to slaves almost every single day of their lives.
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Douglas sees literacy as a tool, the only tool that can change a slave’s life. He realizes that when he overhears his master talking to his wife about how literacy will ruin a slave. That was the moment he understood the power of knowledge and why slave owners had to deprive their slaves from learning. Through literacy, he is able to see what is right and what is wrong; he is able to question the values of the slave society and realizes that he, and other slaves, should have rights too. Literacy is the only way out of this situation. Through books, namely “The Colombian Orator”, he became conscious of the fact that there exists other abolition movements and that gave him hope. Through knowledge, he gains an aspiration and is able to do many things in his life, things which could have been impossible without his interest to learn.
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Literacy gives Douglass a pathway to access the freedom. By learning how to read and write, he is abled to read through the books and inspires by them. Also, he is abled to identity the evilness of the slavery and encourages others who have the same situations as him to escape from the chain of the slavery. Literacy gives him a power or desire to peruse to a better life. It motivates him to change and to become a better person. It completely changes the way he views things and makes him want to be a “human”, not an animal that only know how to think . Literacy helps him escapes successfully from the slavery and fights for inequality of Africa American under the chain of slavery.
What does he mean, on p.238, when he describes the first whipping he witnessed as, “the blood-stained gate”?
When Douglass refers to “the blood-stained gate” he is writing about the entrance into the world of slavery. The description of this entrance is referring violence and hardship that a life of slavery makes a slave endure. It also exudes a literal meaning because the beatings that the slaves experienced.
Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
For a man like Frederick Douglass to be literate is something that he took a very great pride in. Frederick was born a slave with his mother, who was also a slave, being raped by his own slave master. During that time, slave weren’t treated as people. Instead, they were treated more like property. Not only were slaves treated as “things”, but they were not allowed to have an education. White owners didn’t want slaves to have a mind of their own so teaching a slave how to read or write was forbidden. Fortunately for Douglass, he was able to learn from one of his masters’ wife and by trading bread to poor white boys for lessons. Frederick Douglass takes so much pride in being a literate black man because during his times as a young slave, he saw that there was nothing bright for any slave in the future. Douglass, however, beat those odds and became an important figures in black and American history.
How does Douglass feel about Southern Christianity? Why?
Douglas feels that southern christianity will soon become contradictory to itself. He feels that the southern christianity has made it not a sin to conduct in slavery because of the darker skins of Africans and that they are meant to be slaves under the whites. But rape of African women slaves results in kids/slaves of a lighter shade and he questions the southern christianity about its rules and morals once the dark shade has vanished. He feels that southern christianity has looked out for white supremacy but soon will face a dilemma that questions their own teaching. He questions, how will they justify slavery then?
How does Douglass feel about Southern Christianity? Why?
Despite Douglass’ faith and belief in the Christian church, it sometimes seems as though he is attacking religion. However, toward the very end of his narrative, he explains that that is the farthest thing from his intention. He goes on to clarify that he believes in and idolizes God as much as the people surrounding him, but that there is an extensive difference in the way in which they practice and portray their devotion. He says that he feels as though slaveholders in particular use the Christian church as a means to justify the cruelty and monstrosities that they impose on their slaves; the ones who claim to be the most holy and most interactive in their religion are the same ones that go home and whip an enslaved people who have no difference aside from the color of their skin. He basically feels as though religion in itself is good, but the hypocrisy of the people within it is what causes it to gain negative connotations and become corrupt.
1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
Frederick Douglass’s autobiography begins with describing his background, his family, and other general issues on his life. This part is the significance to reader. Through this information about the early years of his life, we (readers) could know what the circumstance of society and what happened to his life at that time. These stories show how bad the slaves’ life and his life.
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
Unlike other autobiographies, Frederick Douglass opens his autobiography by discussing how he did not know his parents, nor did he know his age. This is significant to the readers because it gives us a sense of how life was back in those days. It seems crazy to know that someone didn’t even know when he/she was born. Frederick Douglass feels as if he has no human rights, and feels like an animal. When reading about the early years of his life, we begin to infer about how the rest of his life would turn out without having a sense of identity of who he really is, besides a slave.
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Literacy has significant impact for Douglass. Literacy not only offers him “pathway from slavery to freedom”, but also allows him to explain what he went through by writing this autobiography. Understanding literacy teaches Douglass that his life has more purposes than being a slave, and makes him sees what is right or wrong. Since he has ability to read “The Columbian Orator”, he realizes that the only way to change his miserable circumstances is to use literacy to change. And there has connections between Douglass and other people, who move to act to abolish slavery. Literacy also allows slaves to join together to rebel in order to fight back. Therefore, knowledge is powerful to make Douglass think about himself, and change situation between slaves and owners.
Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Literacy for Douglass was very significant because it allowed him to be free and think on his own. He was also able to write his autobiography which allowed him to influence slaves to fight for freedom, call attention to slavery as an issue and raise sympathy for abolition. Since Douglas could read he was able to be more knowledgeable in certain things and make his own conclusion and have his own beliefs and not just go by what others tell him is right or wrong.
Douglass is a child when he witnessed his first whipping, and he also describes it as “the entrance to the hell of slavery”. Young Douglass sees the whippings as only the beginning to what hell slaves were living in. The blood on the gates represents the physical pain slaves had to endure. The gate itself is like the introduction, or welcoming to their life under the cruel household of another human being.
1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
The significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life is that every slave, like himself, does not know anything about his age, and his mother and father. He describes that by not knowing much about her mother, he has no feeling for her when she dies. Slaves do not know their day birth means their life is not special and animalize them.
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
Through reading Douglass’s early years of his life, we could know that slaves don’t live like a human being. They don’t even know who their parents are. They have been deprived of celebrating their birthdays. They are not allow to publicly see their moms and even not go to their mom’s funeral. All these things are normal to them and they don’t feel weird. They have be dehumanized.
1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
The information Douglass provides about the early years of his life is significant because it shows how inhumanly slaves were treated, even as children. He says that he does not know his birthday, in fact, none of the slaves know their birthday. That is because birthdays are usually memorable because it is a happy day for our parents, the day we are born. However, slaves were not so happy when their children were born because the future that these kids had was being a slave. Not knowing his birthday is also significant because he is taught that he does not matter, slaves are treated like animals. Little boys and girls have to run around naked because they are not given any clothes. All of this information that Douglass provides shows us how slave children were regarded as animals.
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
When Douglass shows us his early life it has great significance because it shows the type of life he lived not knowing his age or his parents. He shows the lives these slaves lived from a very young age and how horrible they had it. They were seen as animals and were not regarded as a person with feelings. So by us having this overall picture of the life they lived it gives us a better understanding of what they went thorugh.
1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
He does not know his parent, his identification, his age and even his birthday. They were treated as animals. This shows that the slaves are in bad situation. So Douglass provides us the image of the life of the slaves. And why he wants to get freedom.
2. What does he mean, on p.238, when he describes the first whipping he witnessed as, “the blood-stained gate”?
Douglass’s first whipping is symbolically his rite of passage into slavery. Up until then, he was still young and innocent and had never really experienced much difficulty in his life. He was only assigned menial tasks and not requested much. It was only until he was whipped that he really knew what it meant to be a slave. “The blood-stained gate” sounds like an entrance to hell, which is fitting since that was his introduction into the horrors of actually experiencing slave punishment.
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
It’s important because it shows how much info was kept from them as young children. They did not know who their parents are, when they celebrate birthdays and everything that children should know. They were treated with no respect, mental and physical abuse and had no love or support form anybody. I think he is explaining all these early years of his life so we can truly understand what the slaves went through from the day they were born until their last day on this earth.
Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Literacy created power for Douglass. He described learning how to read as one of the more important turning points in his life. He quickly learned that knowing how to read provided him with freedom. He read speeches from a single book over and over again that described the most innate values of a liberal democracy like freedom and equality. This ability ultimately lead to his own free thoughts and feeling of pride and self. These things lead him to seek his freedom. Eventually he used his skills to turn the tide of a nation through his books and speeches that would be impossible without that initial step to literacy.
Douglass feels that southern Christianity is very hypocritical. That people used the story of Noah son’s sin as an excuse to slave people that are black. That is because the son of Canaan was turn black and to serve his older brothers. There is the character Auld’s that his church benefits from Auld’s money that he gets from slave. There were many churches that got money like that through slavery. He even goes on as describing one of Douglass slave owner Covey has devil and snake like characteristics. The slaves call Covey “the snake,” it is because he sneaks through the grass and hits his slaves. It can also be a reference to Satan’s appearance in the book of Genesis when the devil was sneaky and went to trick Eve.