Frederick Douglas

A detailed Summary of Frederick Douglas


In Douglass' narrative, there are many instances in which he uses his experiences to enforce the view that slavery should be abolished. He also uses other slaves as examples in order to support this strong unpopular belief. Though he does not come directly out against slavery, he allows the reader to make the decision based on what he has told them. Throughout the narrative, he looks at the different perspectives of slavery, including the slaveholder's point of view. The most compelling passage that sums up what Douglass had been going through is in the appendix. Here, he addresses the irony and hypocrisy of slaveholders to justify their actions.

He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of God who made me. He who is the religious advocate of marriage robs whole millions of its sacred influence, and leaves them to the ravages of wholesale pollution...Here we have religion and robbery the aliens of each other-devils dressed in angels' robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise (Douglass 327).


South. Being able to see this for its true worth was the start of a long road to abolition. Many of the slaveholders felt slavery was their duty and that God approved. Who would have thought that such a large population could be in denial and totally oblivious to the cold hard truth lying directly in front of them?

ry brought to Southern culture. Douglass places the mirror directly in front of the 'white-South' to show them that they are the 'evil' they have been so against. The South's view of slaves was that they were barbaric, evil, and heathens. Rather than conforming to this, Douglass shows the readers that the slaveholders were barbaric. As you can see, hypocrisy was a common virtue amongst the slaveholders and Douglass is sure to point this out in his closing statement.

Douglass's feelings on slavery were not directly stated throughout the narrative. Instead, he gave the readers an inside view of what slavery has been to him and those he came into contact with. In the final passage, Douglass holds nothing back. He no longer leaves it up to the reader to make a decision. Instead, he shows the excessive irony of being a slave in the white



Some common words found in the essay are:
Throughout South, Slavery Douglass', allow slaves, white class, slaveholders douglass, throughout narrative, view slavery, reader decision, learning read, irony slavery, directly front,

Approximate Word count = 887
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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