Frederick Douglass, born in Talbot County, Maryland, was a social reformer who escaped slavery to become the leader of the abolitionist movement. In his narrative, he describes his unhappy and troubled childhood as he experienced slavery firsthand (Gates, 328). He was raised up in the home of slave masters where he grew up seeing how cruel slavery was. Frederick Douglass’s mother was black and his father was white; of whom he did not know. Douglass was separated from her mother at a very tender age, a very common practice among the slave owners. Douglass believed that this was done so as to break the bond between the mother and the child. He narrates his experiences under the slave masters. He fondly recalls Mr. Plummer, his first master’s overseer, who was a drunkard, a monster and cruel (Gates, 332). Mr. Plummer, as he states, used to cut and slash women’s heads and whipped them horribly. Douglass recalls how Captain Anthony used to whip her Aunt, Hester, after she had disobeyed him. Frederick Douglass stated that he remembered those incidences like he was a witness and participant of the abuse. Douglass fondly remembers one particular incident that introduced him to the hellish world of slavery (Gates, 333).
Frederick Douglass recalls the incident where the Captain whips Aunt Hester after she had disobeyed her orders of not going out and meeting Ned (gates, 334). Douglass says that he witnessed the horrible exhibition in a way that he could not put the feelings to paper. Douglass remembers the Captain bringing Aunt Hester to the kitchen and stripping her from her neck to her waist, leaving the neck, shoulders and back entirely naked. The captain proceeded to tie her hands to a hook in a way that Aunt Hester’s hands were up stretched while she stood upon the ends of her toes. The Captain then proceeded to whip her until blood dripped to the floor, this was despite her screams. Douglass says he was “horror-stricken at the sight” that he hid himself in the closet and dared not to come out until the ordeal was over (Gates, 335). Douglass stated that he had never seen anything like that and hoped not to be whipped next.
The video Frederick begins to understand slavery (American Experience, 1), is a re-enactment of the Aunt Hester scene that Frederick Douglass describes in his narrative. I believe that it is an accurate portrayal of the Aunt Hester incident that Frederick Douglass described in his narrative. This is simply because of the excellent acting, narrating, directing, cinematography and scores that can clearly paint a picture of events that happened during the Aunt Hester incident. The director ensured that the scene portrayed all events that Douglass described from the time Aunt Hester was brought to the kitchen by the captain to the time she was being whipped. We can see the young Douglass sleeping on the floor then rushing to the closet when he hears the cries of his Aunt heading his way. The actors also tried their level best to portray the accurate events as described in Douglass’ narrative. The narration was also an important aspect as it describes the actual events and Douglass’ feelings as he experienced the horrific event. Excellent cinematography was also employed to make the scene as close to Douglass’ narrative about the event. On the first scene, we can see the camera closing in on the young Douglass as he lay on the floor while hearing the screams heading his way. Young Frederick is seen as being frightened and nervous and dashes to the closet. The camera angle then shifts to show how Douglass viewed the events that transpired from his position in the closet.
A further close up to the scene, shows how the Captain went about tying Aunt Hester, stripping her back and whipping her until blood dripped to the floor. Further close-ups show the anguish Aunt Hester was in and how ‘horribly-stricken’ the young Douglass had been. From those scenes, one could easily paint a picture of how the event took place in real life. Scoring was also effective in the video as it allowed clear depictions of the actual scene. The video begins with sounds that indicate a calm atmosphere but they become intense as the camera moves towards young Douglass. At this moment, the sounds were used to create a tense mood. As the Captain brings Aunt Hester to the kitchen, the sound become more intense is indicating the violence that was taking place at that particular scene. Towards the end, the sounds fade and become slow which help in making a viewer empathize with Aunt Hester’s ordeal and young Douglass’ feelings. In that moment, a viewer is effectively given the sense of Frederick Douglass’ feelings as one is able to empathize and feel pitiful for him. The scene is so moving to the extent that a viewer can become emotional.
Works Cited
American Experience. "Frederick Douglass Begins to Understand Slavery." PBS Video. N.p., 01 Aug. 2013. Web. Retrieved 12 Oct. 2014. http://video.pbs.org/video/2291360172/
Gates, Henry L. The Classic Slave Narratives. New York: Signet classic, 2002. Print.
