Great Works of Literature II

Before I get into the second part of the book, I would like to talk about what I think about Frederick Douglass. If I had to sum up the life of Frederick Douglass with one word, the word would be inspiring. In the beginning of the book, Frederick Douglass struggled to find his own identity. He had questions about his life that he painfully knew that would never be answered. Because of this, it left a huge gap in his identity. Although these questions would go unanswered even at the end of the book, he knew one thing about himself; he was not a slave.

That is what is so inspiring about Frederick Douglass. Instead of living the life that the world forced upon him, he chose to defy it by going through obstacles that every slave had to go through, such as enduring the constant beatings from his owners, learning how to read and write, and achieving his freedom. I think that the determination and will that Douglass has is enough to distinguish himself from not only the slaves, but also the rest of society.

A point that I found interesting is Douglass’ perspective on religion. He says that, “For of all the slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst.” (958). The reason why I found this interesting is because I would normally expect otherwise.  It’s baffles me to think that a “righteous” man would involve himself with slavery, let alone be even more cruel than the average slave owner. Take Mr. Hopkins for example (pg. 958). He asserts himself by whipping his slaves in advance every Monday in case they do something to deserve it. How can anyone who whips other human beings for a living have the audacity call themselves a righteous man? Granted, Douglass classifies this religion as the “Christianity of the land” (slaveholding religion), distinguishing it from the “Christianity of Christ”. Even still, these people preach with their heads held up high about what is wrong and what is right, yet they cannot see that what they’re doing is immorally wrong. The hypocrisy is MIND BLOWING.

Also..

In the second part of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick finally had something that he didn’t have in the beginning: love. When he experienced the bond that he shared with the other slaves while he stayed at Mr. Freeland, it was a life changing moment for him. He finally knew how it felt to love and to be loved. The passage in page 960 powerfully shows how much his fellow slaves meant to Douglass. He said, “I loved them with a love stronger than any thing I have experienced since. It is sometimes said that we slaves do not love and confide in each other. In answer to this assertion, I can say, I never loved any or confided in any people more than my fellow-slaves, and especially those with who I loved at Mr. Freeland’s… we would have died for each other” When he finally arrived at New York, Douglass’ happiness of finding freedom became overshadowed by his loneliness. So taking the bond Douglass has with his friends into consideration, it makes me wonder if he would trade it all for a chance to reunite with his friends. Would you guys?