The lifestyles of Richard Wright and Frederick Douglass are relatively distinct in their own way which makes it clear to say who lived a terrible life. However, the former EOF student, Raiyah Johnson, concluded that the essays written by them provided evidence that Douglass had it far worse than Wright. Her supposition was entirely fair to differentiate their life experiences when they each lived their life differently. The time periods that the text was written shaped what types of experiences they lived through. Douglass was not able to do many things as a slave seeing as it was all if not mostly forbidden of him to do the things Wright could do. On the other hand, although it was forbidden, Douglass could write, and it was his pursuit of knowledge that pushed him into a downward spiral of depression and misery. If Wright had deliberate intentions to pursue writing his emotional well being could …show more content…
A slave is viewed as nothing, and that made it easy for people to view them as personal property. As a victim of domestic servitude and forced labor, it only entails that his life will inevitably spiral down into self depression and dismay. Johnson’s assertion regards that the limitations in Douglass’s life would only produce destructive consequences should he disobey or refute his permanent title of a slave. As the child of a system that stips down all self idenitity, it was hard for Douglass to identify himself as anything else but a slave. Life is all about self identification, and when relating Wright to it, Wright could identify himself as a free black man. If Douglass could portray himself as anything else but a negro slave, maybe he could define his life as somewhat purposeful, but his life had no purpose and that made it a worse life to
Throughout America’s history, many influential and historical figures have given significant speeches to impact views of the people. For example, Frederick Douglass and Charles Langston are powerful speakers who try to convince the white community that slavery should be abolished. Of the two distinctive speakers, Douglass is more persuasive and outspoken than Langston. As a former slave, Douglass uses his tragic experiences to bring life and passion into his words. While Langston addresses his audience in a mild manner, Douglass seems to be more adamant and strong in his beliefs and views. Even though they approach their audiences differently, both touch upon a few similar
Wright also criticizes the receiver. During the letter, Douglass indicated that Wright has not done enough to be an advocate of anti-slavery because Wright “[has not] acted quite consistently with [his charaver for promptness, in delaying [his] advice till he transaction was completed.” Douglass does not appreciate the two-sided ace of Henry C. Wright because as an advocate of anti-slavery, Wright should stand firmly against the sanction of robbing slaves for their independence. However, in this letter, Douglass is audacious of Wright. Douglass does not fear Wright because he knows that slaves who buy their freedom are not doing the correct thing. He knows that he is alright with being in Europe although everything he has ever worked for is in America. Frederick Douglass will not “sanction [the government’s] right to rob [him]” because he is naturally born with the right to be free. Henry C. Wright was an advocate for feminism, anti-slavery, and giving people their natural rights, but when it came to speaking about his views, Wright knew his reputation would plummet. Douglass continues to be audacious when “[he] does not think it would be very honorable pn [his] part, to remain silent during the whole transaction.” It is evident that Douglass not only wants slaves to be free, but he does not want the slaves to pay for their independence because that would lead to the leaders of the government to increase the fee of becoming
Compare and Contrast Paper There are different accounts of slavery in America. I recently read Slave Girl in California and part of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Labor and slavery are central themes that are similar in both Slave Girl in California and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. However, there are very opposing themes such as liberty and government as well.
The purpose behind Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative was to appeal to the other abolitionists who he wanted to convince that slave owners were wrong for their treatment of other human beings. His goal was to appeal to the middle-class people of that time and persuade them to get on board with the abolitionist movement. Douglass had a great writing style that was descriptive as well as convincing. He stayed away from the horrific details of the time, which helped him grasp the attention of the women who in turn would convince their husbands to help by donating money and eventually ending slavery. He used his words effectively in convincing the readers that the slave owners were inhuman and showed how they had no feelings for other human
When comparing two essays, there are many different aspects that the reader can look at to make judgments and opinions. In the two essays that I choose, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', and FREDERICK DOUGLAS'S 'From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,' there were many similarities, but also many differences. Some of them being, the context, style, structure and tone. Many times when readings or articles are being compared, people over look the grammatical and structural elements, and just concentrate on the issues at hand. I believe it is important to evaluate both.
In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Mr. Douglass gives many examples of cruelty towards slaves as he shows many reasons that could have been used to abolish slavery. Throughout the well-written narrative, Douglass uses examples from the severe whippings that took place constantly to a form of brainwashing by the slaveholders over the slaves describing the terrible conditions that the slaves were faced with in the south in the first half of the 1800’s. The purpose of this narrative was most likely to give others not affiliated with slaves an explicit view of what actually happened to the slaves physically, mentally, and emotionally to show the explicit importance of knowledge to the liberation
Frederick Douglas and I are complimentary in many ways. Believe it or not, I can actually see myself as the young woman version of Frederick Douglas in the 21st centry. We have a bundle of similarites but we also have our distint differences in our education such as how we learned, what we learned, and what we used to learn. For example, one of us may have had more resources but didn't really have a specific pattern or order to do it, but the other even though he didn't have as much, was more organized on how to learn what they wanted to learn. In other words, had an actual plan mapped out instead of just winging it.
In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.
The effects of slavery continue to be seen in the world to this day, but its time of full force was during the time of Frederick Douglass, an American slave who eventually learned to read and write. He escaped from slavery and began to tell his story, which became very famous for its raw description of the conditions of slavery. Although many think that slaves were the people most affected, Frederick Douglass reveals that the slaveholders were also greatly changed by the institution. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass highlights the dehumanizing nature of slavery, both physically and mentally in both the slave and the slaveholder by providing insight into his relationships and experiences with
Mainly, because of the lack of communication he had with others; For example Douglass wrote: “I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt that I should have killed myself” (146). this provides us with loads of evidence why Douglass had it worse than Wright. Being a slave wasn’t an easy situation. It made Douglass hopeless of being free. In another manner, it reminded him of who he really was “a slave for life”. Douglass couldn’t communicate with other or share his feelings with any white man. His inner turmoil was complete far more intense, which agrees with Johnson’s statement about Douglass and wright. Unlike Douglass, Wright was able to find someone who he can trust, and communicate with. He explains: “Since he, too, was an object of hatred, I felt that he might refuse me but would hardly betray me” (347). Wright was able to express his feelings and thoughts to his co-worker Mr. Falk; Who eventually helped him by giving Wright his Library Card, and allowing him to write his own notes under Mr. Falk’s name. although, Falk was a white, he was hated by many white people. He was commonly known for being anti-negro, witch gave Wright the opportunity to trust him and ask him for help. Wright’s great ambition for readings presented him with all the boundaries of being an African American. Reading gave him a new perspective of life. “If I fought openly I would die and I didn’t want to die” (353). This made him awake of how important education is. He prefers to live in segregation rather than dying as opposed to
Frederick Douglass, a famous abolitionist leader and writer, was born into slavery in the early 1800’s. Douglass published many books and papers illustrating the time in which he lived, all of them portraying his perspective of growing up as a slave in Talbot County, Maryland. During this time slaves had no rights. They were bought and sold constantly, and were consider property the slave owners. Slaves mainly worked in the fields, but Douglass on the other hand, was lucky enough to live as a servant to the Master and his family. In his essay, “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass described the events that took place in his early childhood and adolescence years that helped him acquire the skills to learn to read and write. These skills are ultimately what enabled Douglass to free himself from slavery and pursue his own passions to fight slavery with his words. In Contrasts, Peter Elbow is a modern day English professor who has published numerous essays regarding methods on how to improve People’s writing skills. One of his methods is known as “Freewriting.” Although these two essays were published nearly two centuries apart, they contain similar methods of organization and purposes within their writing. The authors used a step-by-step method of writing where each supporting detail adds the previous one and guides the reader closer to the main principle of the paper.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave details the progression of a slave to a man, and thus, the formation of his identity. The narrative functions as a persuasive essay, written in the hopes that it would successfully lead to “hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of [his] brethren in bonds” (Douglass 331). As an institution, slavery endeavored to reduce the men, women, and children “in bonds” to a state less than human. The slave identity, according to the institution of slavery, was not to be that of a rational, self forming, equal human being, but rather, a human animal whose purpose is to work and obey the whims of their “master.” For these reasons, Douglass articulates a distinction
Fredrick Douglass also came to exude a great sense of racial pride as his life progressed. At first, his only perception of his people was that of a lowly slave nation. Yet, he was dedicated to trying to improve their lot. After his fellow slaves learned that he was literate, they “insisted that I must keep a Sabbath school.” He agreed to this proposal because he felt that the only shot his “brothers” had at gaining their freedom was through the power of the written word. Later, when he and his fellow slaves were jailed after their plans to escape to freedom were revealed, he states that “our greatest concern was about separation.” Douglass felt a sense of responsibility and kinship towards the members of his own race, and was loath to break these bonds. His racial pride reached its peak when he saw the houses that the free blacks in the North lived in. Douglass proudly writes that “I found many, who had not been seven years out of their chains, living in finer houses, and evidently enjoying more of the comforts of life, than the average of slaveholders in Maryland.” When Douglass saw how well some of his kinsmen were living, he could not help but change his impression of his people being a downtrodden slave nation. He came to recognize his race for what they truly were: a people equal in stature to any other, even the lofty Caucasians.
Since the beginning of writing, literature has played a pivotal role in shaping the history of the world. The same holds true when referring to the early American history topic of slavery. Many abolitionists wrote in hopes that their views will persuade people in America to take a stand against slavery. While there were many authors that led the anti-slavery movement, the most successful writers were the slaves that lived through this atrocious time period and were able to recall their experiences. Two prominent authors during this time period were Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. While the two writers shared many common experiences due to their time being a slave, they also had had a variety of differences. Harriet Jacobs wrote mostly wrote in a way that appealed to people’s emotions and focused on what a woman goes through as a slave; whereas Douglass focused on freedom and manhood.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is an account of Frederick Douglass’ life written in a very detached and objective tone. You might find this tone normal for a historical account of the events of someone’s life if not for the fact that the narrative was written by Frederick Douglass himself. In light of the fact that Douglass wrote his autobiography as a treatise in support of the abolishment of slavery, the removed tone was an effective tone. It gave force to his argument that slavery should be done away with.