Born a slave in 1818 on a plantation in Maryland, Frederick Douglass, an African-American whose life was nothing but brutality, cruelty and savagery all accomplished by his evil, unfair, unforgiving, ruthless and cold-hearted masters. The only way to escape the horrid trenches of slavery was escape, but where? And how? Frederick Douglass’ Narrative shows that the white slaveholders keep their slaves ignorant in order for the black slaves in their unruly command. Most, if not all slaveholders were absolutely awful, as they never took care of them or even forgave them even with the slightest mistake, they would get whipped severely until blood spewed out. A quote that suggests this:
“Whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, …show more content…
They believed that blacks were inherently incapable of participating in civil society and thus should be kept as workers for whites. Slave owners keep slaves ignorant of basic facts about themselves, such as their birth date or their paternity. This enforced ignorance robs children of their natural sense of individual identity. A quote suggests this:
“And it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday.”(Pg 17, Douglass) Women often appear in Douglass’s Narrative not as full characters, but as clear images—specifically, images of abused and mangled bodies. Douglass’s Aunt Hester, Mary, and Henny, for example, appear only in scenes that demonstrate their masters’ hatred and violence of them. Douglass’s depictions of the women’s mangled bodies are meant to visualise pain and outrage the reader. A quote proves