Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a famous autobiography that was written by Fredrick Douglas himself. He was a slave who faced many challenges from his childhood to adulthood. Douglas raised many issues in this book, and all those ideas were intended to reach those who defended slavery.
In his book, Douglas tried to explain the idea of humanhood as one of his points. He tried to show the thoughts, signs, and actions that make someone a human being. According to him, there is no true humanhood in an individual that supports slavery or an action that steals dignity and God-given freedom of an individual. In one of the chapters of the book, the humanhood of some slaves including him had been taken from them following the torture they underwent because of slavery (Douglass, 72). While working on the plantation of Colonel Lloyd, Douglas was occasionally punished by his master. He lacked food and something to cover his body from cold. In addition, during summer, Douglas was not allowed to stay in shoes and stocking.
The effect of slavery on the enslaved is the other point that Douglas raised in his book. Because of slavery, many enslaved children were not able to tell their age when white children were able to do so. Additionally, because of slavery, Douglas was not able to know his mother (Douglass, 2). He was unable to know his mother because they only stayed together for a very short duration. This challenge was due to the fact that his mother walked a very long distance when coming to see him, and if she was late in getting back to the plantation of her master, she would be whipped. When his mother got sick, he was not allowed to see her and when she died he was not authorized to be present at her burial. Therefore, separation of families was real during slavery.
Lack of education as something that motivated slavery is also another point that Douglas raises in his book. The lack of education is what enabled the white people to maintain power over the slaves. When Douglass wanted to educate himself, he was taken to live with Edward Covey where he lost the desire to learn due to the brutal treatment he experienced while at Edward Covey’s place (Douglass, 50).
The reason Douglass wrote this book is because he wanted it to be read by the supporters and defenders of slavery. He had hope that they would be touched by his story, and there would be changes in the minds of these individuals. He knew that after reading the challenges that the slaves like him faced, these people would work hard to ensure that the challenge of slavery was eradicated. Also, he expected that these individuals would gain an understanding of what makes a human being be a human being and stop actions that steal dignity of other people.
In conclusion, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was very suitable for the people who were in support of the institution of slavery during the 19th century. Slavery caused a lot of suffering to many individuals like Fredrick Douglas. By reading this book, they would be motivated when fighting for the freedom of such people. They would also fight to ensure that the slaves would be educated.
Work Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. 2014.
Web.
