362 Douglass, Frederick
remains so today. The work includes such themes as
freedom, identity, race, and gender.
Patrice Natalie Delevante
FreedOm in Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, an American Slave, Written by
Himself
In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an
American Slave, Written by Himself, Frederick Doug-
lass equates freedom with resistance and literacy and
presents a case for nothing less than a complete end
to American slavery. Douglass describes how white
masters are free to whip, defile, and control black
slaves through physical punishment, oppression,
and shame. They quickly silenced any form of slave
resistance. For instance, upon his refusal to return
to his master Mr. Gore, Demby, a slave, is shot and
killed. Douglass’s owner, Colonel Lloyd, claims that
Demby’s defiance will inspire other slaves to resist
punishment and escape to freedom, saying “the
result of which would be, the freedom of slaves,
and the enslavement of whites.” Clearly, as Colonel
Lloyd’s paranoia shows, white slave masters greatly
feared slaves contemplating freedom.
Slaves learning how to read also struck fear into
white slaveholders, so much so that it was forbid-
den by law. One of Douglass’s former masters,
Mr. Auld, scolds Mrs. Auld for teaching Douglass
the alphabet, rationalizing, “If you give a nigger
an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know
nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told
to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the
world... .” White masters believed wholeheartedly
that literacy was the “inch” slaves would take to seek
their freedom. A literate slave would be an “unfit
slave,” desiring freedom from physical labor, pos-
sibly resisting his master’s orders until he became
“unmanageable,” ultimately seeking physical separa-
tion from his master.
Just as society connected literacy with freedom,
Douglass does here as well. To read is to have some
measure of control, to be able to see the world on
one’s own terms. After Mr. Auld scolds Mrs. Auld,
Douglass realizes that literacy is forbidden because
of a power relationship. A master has power over a
slave because he is a slave, his property. Once this
power relationship is unstable and removed, a slave-
holder’s powers and, ultimately, slavery would also
cease to exist. A slave would realize he no longer
belongs to his master but that he is free. After expe-
riencing such a “grand achievement” in thus analyz-
ing the slave system, Douglass describes literacy as
“the pathway from slavery to freedom.”
Because he has no regular teacher, Douglass
must improvise in his efforts toward literacy. He
strategically uses his conversations with poor white
children to improve literacy skills that began with
Mrs. Auld’s lessons. He brings the children bread
from the Auld house and from them he gains a les-
son. He also learns to read by talking with friendly
white ship carpenters and from copying letters
from books belonging to his master’s son. He reads
books about the Catholic emancipation, abolition-
ists, human rights, and slaves being granted freedom
by their masters, books such as The Columbian
Orator. The more he reads about rights and eman-
cipation, the more he becomes disgusted with and
intolerant of slavery, the very feelings foreseen by
Mr. Auld. He shares his feelings with fellow slaves
and begins to teach them how to read in secret dur-
ing Sunday school. He pities their “mental darkness”
and inability to desire freedom. He explains that
in drinking whisky “artfully labeled with the name
liberty” during Christmas, slaves are fooled into
thinking that they are experiencing liberty and that
it is better to be “slaves to man as to rum.” Drink-
ing makes them drunk, something that they cannot
comprehend doing on any day other than a holiday.
Thus, Douglass believes Christmas and other holi-
day celebrations become strategic moves on the part
of the whites; he views these rewards as safety valves
to keep the slaves from rebelling.
Douglass also sees freedom in religion. He ques-
tions the existence of God, yet he sees that God can
help him secure freedom. During his service to Mr.
Covey, Douglass realizes mental freedom. He states
a famous chiasmus: “You have seen how a man was
made a slave; now you shall see how a slave was
made a man,” before leading the reader through a
sequence of events that prove this statement. Mr.
Covey attempts to strike him, only to see Douglass
resist and strike back. Mr. Covey “tremble[s],” a
reaction more expected of slaves than masters. Dou-
glass’s resistance prevents Mr. Covey from punishing