Narrative of the Life of Frede

A detailed Summary of Narrative of the Life of Frede

Imagine yourself back in the early eighteen hundreds as black slave living on a plantation with death knocking on your door at any second. The only chance to survive this born-into captivity, is to humble yourself before a white master or attempt to escape to an unknown safe haven. To chance an escape would put your life at risk to the bounty hunters and cause severe brutality upon those you left behind. The only logical way to live one's life in these situations would be submissive from birth to death and to die quietly, so those remaining don't lose what little faith they have left. This is an example of the atrocities that occurred throughout our Great Nation's history, and will forever be a scar for everyone to see. One individual lived through this time period and wrote about what he saw and endured. Frederick Douglass wrote an autobiographical account, "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself". This account of slavery is a prime example of what life on a plantation was like, and illustrates the effects of captivity, along with the sense of personal identity.

Frederick Douglass wrote his first autobiography when he was about twenty-seven years old. This age, which he ha

d given himself, was not an actual written account, but a verbal comment that his master made when Douglass was about age seventeen. "I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it" (970). Douglass gives comments to the fact that he, and other slaves, was not allowed to know such information about themselves. If a slave would ask about their birthday or what age they were, harsh treatment would generally be the resulting answer. The only recollection of a slaves' birthday would revolve around the time of harvest during the seasons. "They seldom came nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall time" (970). This lack of personal identity would become one of the fundamental elements of oppression to a slave. Such personal information is vital to a slave, to know what day is the day of their birth and how long they have lived in captivity. "A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege" (970). To not know a part of one's own history, especially their age, is to leave a deep void within the slave; a burning desire to know such information would cause madness and any action of inquiry, would be met with equal amounts of physical pain. Physical pain was the key factor of submission, but when slave children were raised only knowing physical brutality, emotional pain tormented the soul even more.

Douglass was sold to a slave-owner named Anthony. This master was not a wealthy man, owning two or three farms, and about thirty slaves. Douglass talks about a man who was in charge of disciplining the slaves on the plantation. He refers to this man as Mr. Plummer, "...a drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster" (972). Douglass's accounts of this man are defiant of human compassion and further illustrate the harsh brutality suffered by all held in captivity.

Another action taken by the white masters was the act of making their female salves their personal concubines

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Approximate Word count = 1440
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English