Cruelty In The Life Of Frederick Douglass

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Frederick Douglass’s narrative was gut wrenching and hard to read at some points when he spoke on the level of cruelty he and other slaves endured throughout their lives. Throughout the narrative Douglass spends some time talking about Christianity and how many of the slave owners were devout “Christians”. Douglass kept on bringing up the conundrum that he and other slaves were dealing with in terms of slave owners and them being Christians. The bible speaks on helping others, being a better person of oneself, giving back, and being good but it is clear that none of these slave owners acted in the reflection in which the bible describes. Douglass speaks about Master Auld and how he became more cruel and aggressive towards his slaves after he started attending church. Master Auld became more religious and more evil. Douglass tries to make the connection between the good the bible speaks of and the atrocious act of man toward …show more content…
He explains it perfectly by saying “WE have men-stealers for minsters, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members” (page 1236). Douglass did not understand the switch these “Christians” made within a day. Their beliefs and actions did not match and Douglass exposes that in his work. Douglass’s entire narrative was very gripping and eye opening. What he and other slaves endured, no person should and the fact that slave owners used the bible to justify their actions towards their slaves is more than cruel. Slave owners did not see slaves as human and therefore they did not deserve the moral goodness the bible speaks of but they often contradicted themselves by trying to “beat the evil” out of them. They were seen as animals and property that were not valued and this narrative was an eye opener to how evil people can be even when they believe they are
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