The passage I have chosen to do my analysis on is chapter 7, specifically the part where Fredrick Douglas is talking about the time he read “ The Columbian Orator”. This passage stood out to me the most because it was the first time I felt genuine anger from him. Up until this chapter, he has spoken about his life very nonchalantly. When he talks about the passing of his mother he said it as almost with no emotions and that it felt just like any other stranger passing to him. But in this passage, something switches, his words no longer are passive. He is writing with passion, the hatred for his life circumstances. The way he speaks of white men by calling them wicked and mean like he hasn’t before shocked me. “I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead;” says Fredrick Douglas, this is also a strong imagery for me too. He has opened up a Pandora’s box of his own, he taught himself how to read and write and it is bringing him pain. He describes how the book opened his eyes on what slavery really was tormented him. He even wishes that he was still as ignorant as his fellow slaves because now he can see the bigger picture whereas before he was just blindly following his master’s orders. But at the same time as it is demoralizing, it also fueled a fire in him.He realizes that there are other parts of the world where there are people under similar circumstances as he is and because they were literate, it made them free. It made him more curious and wanting to learn more about “abolition” and how that can be achieved. The book also gave him the courage and confidence to set his plans to escape in motion.
Tianhui, As we discussed in class, learning to read and then encountering this book of speeches changed the course of Douglass’ life. Your suggestion that it is a Pandora’s Box is interesting; for as you indicate above, while it’s true that learning to read is what makes Douglass’ eventual escape possible, it’s also true that he opens himself up to a lot of pain by facing and acknowledging the cruelty and injustice of his situation.