Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass-Yanyan Chen

Chapter VIII of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave really shocks me, and I think this chapter is of great significance in the whole book. First of all, it is sad know that those slaves who are not able to read even don’t have a clear understanding of their “degraded condition” (256). When they are deprived of the routeway to the newspaper and to the bigger world, they tend to believe that life should be as miserable as their experience. In addition, I was astonished that the American slaves are “ranked with horses, sheep, and swine” (256). They are just a part of the property of their masters and their fate are decided randomly according to their masters’ mood and thoughts. Douglass use a syntax of comparison here to deepen the hopeless atmosphere. He says, “horses and men, cattle and women, pig and children” (256). This style of writing makes the story a tragic. How can we put human beings with livestock together? Why don’t we say, men, women, children and horses, cattle and pigs, but rather, ignore the classification and mix them together? Another noticeable comparison occurs between the death of Master Andrew and Douglass grandmother. When Master Andrew dies, the poor grandmother wipes “from this icy brow the cold death-sweat” (257) but when she dies, “none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death” (258). His grandmother serves Mater Andrew through all his life. In a reasonable condition, her kindness deserve a pay back. However, in reality, not only she receives nothings, but also, she is abandoned by the owner in the woods with no food and water, waiting for death. The contrast of their fate makes readers fall into tears. One thing I want to know more is that why the Baltimore boys are so generous and kind to Douglass? Just because of the bread he gives to them? Or, are there any other reasons?