I agree with Jessica’s statement in her post that Frederick Douglass didn’t let his status as a slave hinder his desire of acquiring an education but instead, “made use of his surroundings to obtain knowledge, and therefore education.” With the advantage of having learned the alphabet from Mrs. Auld before she learned the “duties of a slaveholder” and her “tender heart became stone” under the influence of slavery (Douglass 7), Douglass continued striving toward his goal to learn how to read and write by making the most out of living in the city. At Baltimore, he was “almost a freeman” who was a step closer to freedom than when he was a slave on the plantation (Douglass 6). Through Mr. Auld’s strong disapproval of Mrs. Auld teaching Douglass how to read and write, Douglass “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 6) which was, undoubtedly, through education since slaveholders were certain that “education and slavery were incompatible with each other” as it poised a threat to their supremacy and authority over slaves (Douglass 7). With a clear purpose to learn how to read and write, Douglass often made friends with “little white boys” on the streets and looked up to them as his teachers (Douglass 7). Sometimes, Douglass even brought along bread from the house to feed “the poor white children in [his] neighborhood” in return for the “valuable bread of knowledge” and Douglass eventually learned how to read (Douglass 7). Similarly, Douglass learned how to write from the ship carpenters in Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard who “[wrote] on the timber [ready for use] the name of that part of the ship for which it was intended” and also from boys who he knew could write (Douglass 7). After continuous effort in learning from the good lessons from the boys and “copying the Italics in Webster’s Spelling Book…until [he] could make them all without looking on the book,” Douglass also succeeded in learning how to write (Douglass 7).
Fred/Kant
In the narrative of Frederick Douglass his story challenges the idea that you can be enlightened only if you are free to think and make decisions and not fear judgement by your minority said in Immanuel Kant in his essay . Douglass was enlightened under circumstances that does not fit the criteria of what Kant feels is essential. His minority was under extreme circumstances that, this thought of education was not as essential as surviving the day to day experience. Douglass only got enlightened after over hearing the physiological strategy used on him and other slaves to deprive them of education by Hugh Auld and his wife . The essay written by Immanuel Kant in 1784 was about Enlightenment and his view on what that it. Kant states that enlightenment is the emergence from his self incurred minority and being able to use ones understanding with out directions. A individual train of thought of using your own understanding and not being dependent on what is the majority train of thought is. Kant states that for enlightenment to be achieved there has to be freedom to make public use of one’s reason in all matters. Freedom to think, be curious and question what is seen as the normal or what is accepted by your peers and guardians.
Thesis
It is apparent that Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is influenced by John Locke’s concept of tabula rasa, no innate principles. The monster learns from experience through sensation and reflection.
Enlightenment and slavery
In Kant’s philosophy essay, he discusses the cause of failure for enlightenment and what is require from people for enlightenment to flourish. Kant defines enlightenment as “the human being’s emergence from his self-incurred minority” (Kant 1). He further explains minority is the inability to think and judge on your own without rely on other people’s opinion. Kant sets examples such as the government officer, tax officer, and clergyman; unenlightened people obey their order immediately without questioning. However, Kant claims that a society is inevitably enlightened if there is freedom. Freedom is essential to enlightenment because it allows people to “make public use of one’s reason in all matters” (Kant 5). That is, to question what has been set up by the authority and to believe in your own reasoning.
Kant’s philosophy is seen in Frederick Douglass’s autobiography. Douglass is a born slave and he doesn’t have clear idea of what is to be a slave in his childhood since a slave is not permitted to have education. Just like his new master said, “it [knowledge] would forever unfit him for the duties of a slave” (Douglass 10). Douglass is later transfer as a property from his old master to Baltimore to serve his new master. Given the opportunity by his new mistress, Douglass has the chance to learn to read and write. Having an education is the turning point of Douglass’s life of slavery. After he attains education, the thought “I AM A SLAVE FOR LIFE” (Douglass 11) bothers Douglass a lot because he finally realize what he is in the society. “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers”(Douglass 11). Knowledge brings rebellious thought against his enslaver and knowledge brings enlightenment to Douglass. He starts to worship freedom, he wants to be free as the white man.” [spirit of freedom] provides a space for the latter to expand to its full capacity” (Kant 10). With the full understanding of slavery, Douglass questions the white man’s power to enslave the black man. Douglass develops his reasoning on his own without anyone’s guidance and eventually determined to escape to find his freedom.
Knowledge from experience
Knowledge is founded from experience is what John Locke states, an observation reiterated and affirmed by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein, where the monster learns merely from experience, lacking any innate ideas.
Books, simply records of the past
Emerson, just like Locke, sees the value of school and books in his text “The American Scholar”. He states that they are, “the best type of the influence of the past, and perhaps we shall get at the truth, – learn the amount of this influence more conveniently” (Emerson 3). Learning from books can be beneficial, because this way one can gain insight about what happened in the past, act the same way people in the past did when it did work, or change the way things need to get done if it is noticed that that was not the best way to go about it then. Having another man’s insight through books can help form an opinion in one’s mind so they can make better decisions in the future.
However, for Emerson, books are more of a record of the past, records that “Each age… must write… or rather, each generation for the next succeeding.” (Emerson 3) This, according to him, has to be done so that it could inspire the individual to recognize and compare the issues of the day. Nonetheless, by only reading books and “believing in their duty to accept the views… they wrote in books… instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm.” (Emerson 4) This then results to humans not thinking, but being simply readers, which Emerson disagrees with, as he believes that there are many valuable aspects of a person such as thought and an active soul. By taking ideas from books and not from personal, human motives, the scholar is not allowed to unite with the active soul. Education, for Emerson, as well as Locke, is not merely the transmission of ideas from one generation to another. “Books are the best of things, well used; abused among the worst”. (Emerson 4) If used properly and only to a certain extent, books can be helpful, but not a fundamental factor of learning.
Brainstorm Exercise #1
Changed beast by treatment from man
Rousseau’s theory of education by man, nature and things is reflected in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through the beast Frankenstein creates, but the strongest influence of beast’s development is education by man because it is evident throughout the novel the beast was most affected by his treatment by man.
Thesis Statement Exercise 1
The idea of being educated through natural ways and rejecting the ways of society for becoming educated can be supported by Emile, by Rousseau, and The American Scholar, by Emerson.
Experience of our Surroundings Results in Education
In Emile: or A Treatise on Education by Jean Jacques Rousseau, he states an important quote, “We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education. This education comes to us from nature, from men, or from things. The inner growth of our organs and faculties is the education of nature, the use we learn to make of this growth is the education of men, what we gain by our experience of our surroundings is the education of things. (1). Rousseau emphasizes here is that we are born without any knowledge, which is obtained through education. He further explains that education comes to us through nature or experiences.
This is applicable to the novel The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, a man who was born into slavery during the 1800s. Immediately after Douglass was born, he was separated from his mother and was placed into a family to work. Truly, Douglass did indeed lack education. However, he did not let his status as a slave, deter him from obtaining an education. His great desire was to learn how to read. However, his owner strongly opposed when his wife started to teach Douglass how to read, because he feared that Douglass would be educated and learn how to rebel. The owner Mr. Auld, stated, “”If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave” (6). Mr. Auld distinguishes the importance of education and how it could even lead slaves to be disobedient to their masters. Douglass relates to the quote by Rousseau because he made use of his surroundings to obtain knowledge, and therefore education. Douglass stated, “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read” (7). Ultimately, Douglass was born into a situation where he was helpless and bound to his master. However, he made use of his surroundings and through experience, he taught himself how to read and eventually, escape slavery.