Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Whenever injustice exists in society, it becomes the responsibility of others to step forward in defense of the oppressed. If this action does not occur, then the injustice will remain and innocent people will suffer. In order to preserve equality, sometimes people must take a risk in order to reveal the truth and uphold justice. Individuals throughout history, such as the founding fathers, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., have faced this peril in the pursuit of freedom. In 1845, Frederick Douglass published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in order to do just that- to establish the truth behind slavery and advocate for freedom. In his narrative, Douglass uses diction, structure, imagery, and other

The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is an autobiography in which Frederick Douglass reflects on his life as a slave in America. He writes this book as a free slave, in the North, while slavery was still running its course before the Civil War. Through his effective use of rhetorical strategies, Frederick Douglass argues against the institution of slavery by appealing to pathos and ethos, introducing multiple anecdotes, using satirical irony, and explaining the persuasive effects of slavery and reasoning behind keeping slaves uneducated.

Greed is the undertone upon which Douglass states that slavery “corrupted souls” and “turned good people into bad people.” The institution of slavery was based on the ultimate control and power over a human to whom he is stripped of all of his identity and becomes sub-human. Consequently, the institution forces slave holders had to buy into this concept in order to justify any and all cruelty toward slaves. Douglas states “Slave holders resort to all kinds of cruelty” and later describes various ways of torture and punishment “all are in requisition to keep the slave in his condition as a slave in the United States” (Douglass 272). Slave holders showed no mercy when reprimanding slaves. The brutality and cruelty of these punishments were more of a statement of power and control and often times the punishment was worse than the offense.

Fredrick Douglas writes about his many hardships, perseverance for freedom, and faith throughout The Life of Fredrick Douglas in The Classic Salve Narratives, especially in chapter IX. Douglas as a victim of slaver witnessed cruelty and objectification of slaves. But Thomas Auld was a different terrible and cruel master. Fredrick Douglas can credit Auld as the worst slave holder. Fredrick wrote “adopted slave holders are the worst.” In this case, with “Captain” Auld he means that Auld was incompetent and insecure about handling his slaves (Douglas, 379). Douglas feels this to be so because Auld’s upcoming as a married in slave master. Being a new slave master made him incapable to control his slaves properly resulting in disobedience of them.

To start off, Douglass uses the rhetorical appeal, logos, to denounce the actions of the slave owners. Douglass describes the characteristics of a cruel overseer, Mr. Severe. “He died very soon after… and he died as he lived, uttering… bitter curses and horrid oaths” (Douglass, 19). The contrast in the two words “died” and “lived” also relates to logic, or rather the lack of logic, because his horrible actions caused him to die a horrible death. It shows that slaveholders are hard-headed on their attitudes on slavery, which uncovers the lack of compassion displayed by the slave owners. To build on, the word “oath” signifies having Christian values. Typically, Christians take oaths to never lie and to speak the truth, yet slave owners allow themselves to lie to their own beliefs when they treat slaves as if they were not human. Slave owners justify the way they act, by dehumanizing slaves and treating them as animals or property. Furthermore, Mrs. Auld, the wife of a slave owner, demonstrates how slavery rots the soul of slave owners. She starts out teaching young Douglass how to read and write and then becomes just like all the other corrupted slave owners. “The tender heart became stone, and the lamb-like disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (Douglass, 34). In the quote, Douglass uses an antithesis varying in words such as, “tender” and “stone”. Contrasting words appeal to logos, because this evidence helps justify the argument that slavery transforms slave owners, in this case, Mrs. Auld. He also uses animals “lamb” and “tiger” to emphasize the similarities of animals and slaves at this time. It can also relate to

In “Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass”, Fredrick Douglass expresses a hatred for the hypocritical and cruel Christianity introduced to him in Chapter 9. However, after Douglass gains his freedom, he discovers the true nature of Christianity and loves it. In Chapter 9 Douglass describes his Master Thomas Alud and why he was later sent to Edward Covey. Since Captain Alud merely gave his slaves less than half a bushel of corn a week, he characterizes Thomas Alud as a “mean man” on page 74. This forced Douglass and other slaves to beg and steal for nourishment themselves.

The brutality that slaves endured form their masters and from the institution of slavery caused slaves to be denied their god given rights. In the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," Douglass has the ability to show the psychological battle between the white slave holders and their black slaves, which is shown by Douglass' own intellectual struggles against his white slave holders. I will focus my attention on how education allowed Douglass to understand how slavery was wrong, and how the Americans saw the blacks as not equal, and only suitable for slave work. I will also contrast how Douglass' view was very similar to that of the women in antebellum America, and the role that Christianity played in his life as a slave and then

Nelson Mandela said, “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” One such man, Frederick Douglas, wrote “From What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? An Address Delivered in Rochester, New York, on 5 July 1852.” He argues that even though blacks and whites went to fight in the war to be free, that promise was not kept to the blacks. Douglass persuades a northern, white audience, to oppose slavery and favor abolition. Douglass wants to remind abolitionist and White Americans that July 4 was not a celebration for slaves and former slaves. Independence Day only made slaves remember that they were made promises for freedom that were not kept.

Until the Civil War and the creation of the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery was considered to be a common practice. Its prominent role in the United States economy and way of life was simply accepted, while the negative impacts were ignored. In his autobiography, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass protests against this acceptance of slavery and the wrongful treatment of African Americans, which resulted from their enslavement. He highlights the negative impacts by describing his experiences as a slave, as well as the conditions that the majority of slaves were accustomed to. By doing so, he displays the dehumanizing aspect of slavery and builds a compelling argument against slavery. Frederick Douglass effectively argues against

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as white plantation owners view slaves as objects undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant their unjust practices. Limiting knowledge and prohibiting education for African Americans was one strategy common among slave owners, as “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (17). Due to their lack of intellect, slaves could not recognize the injustices of the slavery system and had little chances of escaping. When Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Frederick Douglass how to read and write, Mr. Auld claims, “A n***** should know nothing but to obey

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the

Amongst the injustice and brutality of slavery is the exclusion of education and knowledge. The slaveholder would tactically deprive the slaves of any knowledge because it would expose them of slavery’s injustice. This act dehumanized the slaves to a great extent, and at the same time forbade them to pursue any form of freedom, physically or spiritually. Hugh Auld, Douglass’s master reasoned that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and believed “If you have a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (Douglass 40, 41) Auld advocated his reasoning by calling a slave “unmanageable,” “unhappy,” and “discontented” if enlightened. Douglass however understood differently. The withdrawal of literacy and knowledge, he believed, was one of the greater factors keeping blacks inferior to whites in society. The Narrative also documents the many physiological effects of slaveholding. Douglass carefully explains the masters whipping their slaves when they least deserve it, and overlooking their deeds when they most deserve it. The killing of a slave is also considered the least of an offense or crime, and is simply gone

Douglass explains, “ However, [Thomas Auld] wanted the power and wished to be called master by his slaves.” (Douglass 76). As one can see, the wanting of power made Thomas Auld corrupt by seeking it and being cruel to the slaves. Douglass shows that power and wanting to be called

Frederick Douglass, the author of the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass was a self-taught slave that was able to escape the brutality of slavery in the year of 1838. Frederick Douglass’s book is separated into 3 main sections, including, a beginning, middle, and end. The purpose of the narrative is to improve the audience's understanding of Douglass’s experience of being a slave, the horrible treatment slaves received, and how Douglass was able to overcome and escape slavery. All throughout the narrative, Douglass uses many rhetorical devices, including, diction, imagery, and syntax, which helps the audience understand, one of his main chapters, chapter 5. In this chapter Douglass implies that the overall purpose is to emphasize the animalistic, inhuman treatment slaves received, how Douglass felt about leaving Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, and his luck of being able to move to Mr. and Mrs. Auld's.

Douglass’s narrative is a courageous work, as it confronts the slavery institution, and the misuse of Christianity by the slave owners