The dominant theme of both “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass and “Discourse on the Logic of Language” by M. NourbeSe Philip deals with the struggles of African Americans and their oppression. Though Frederick Douglass tells his story of the horror of being a slave, Philip speaks on the more general obstacles and oppression faced by African Americans throughout history and today.

NourbeSe Philip uses repetition to convey important ideas and messages in her poem. She explains that she has “no mother tongue”. To compare this to Frederick Douglass’ story, Douglass has no mother. His mother is a slave on a different plantation and can only visit at night when she travels alone through the dark woods. Though she made this valiant and courageous effort to visit her son as much as she could, Frederick Douglass was too young and the contact between the two was too few and far between to recognize her has a mother. He further explains that when his mother died, he was not any more saddened by the news than he would be had a stranger died. In “Discourse on the Logic of Language”, Philip concludes that because she has no “mother tongue”, she is “dumb tongued”. She does not know her origins of where she came from. This is a result of the oppression and white washing faced by African Americans in society. Frederick Douglass relates to this with his lack of knowledge of his own life. He did not know where he came from, who his family was, his birthday or where and when he was born. “What is my mother tongue?” asks Philip. Slaves were not taught to read, speak or write to guarantee that they would not be knowledgeable. It was also a way to dehumanize them. By refusing slaves access to language, they could not question authority and oppression. Whites feared that knowledge would lead to the downfall and enslavement of whites. Along with having a lack of human connection with his mother, Frederick Douglass was unsure of who his father was. Many people told him that his Master was his father which was extremely conflicting. He explained that his Master would be extra hard on him so that he would not get accused of favoring or going easy on his son. This lack of love and human connection from his supposed father made Frederick feel like they were strangers and that his father was foreign. In “Discourse on the Logic of Language”, Philip states, “English is my father tongue, a father tongue is a foreign language, therefore English is a foreign language …” She knows that English is foreign and not her original language – her father language is a stranger.

NourbeSe Philip cleverly turns the word “language” to “anguish” to “foreign anguish” throughout the poem. By transforming this word, Philip connects language to suffering. The loss of her language leads to and is the cause of her suffering or “anguish”. Throughout the novel, Frederick Douglass describes his literal suffering as a slave. He vividly depicts the abuse and horror that he and his fellow slaves faced under the rule of a foreign oppressor – the white male Master.