Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American SlaveEssay written by: waterlilly2842Aristotle conceived of three appeals for existence: ethos, pathos and logos, all of which are prevalent in all forms of writing, entertainment, speech, and gener
...s their duty to "whip his slaves" (118). While being in the community of religious leaders, Douglass was subjected to the "meanest… most cruel" (117) of acts of one human being towards another. The slaves were kept down, belittled and whipped into submission all under the tenets of Christianity. The Rev. Weeden, Rev. Hopkins and Mr. Freeland felt it was not only their right to own slaves, but also their God-given right to take these ‘human beings’ and turn them into hard workers. The imagined acts of transgression and the punishments mettled out smacked of Puritanism of the 1600’s. If they, as religious leaders, were the ideal citizens of society, then the slaves, who were the chaff of the wheat, must be treated as such. If the slaves were not whipped daily, how could they ever be saved from all their imagined sins? Not only are we allowed a chronological view of Frederick Douglass’ life, we are also privy to the growth of his emotional maturity as he explores the value of becoming a free man, "looked forward… safe to escape… too young to go immediately… consoled myself with hope" (86). It is the gradual realization that the more Douglass is treated fairly, "deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me in its foul embrace" (75), the more he wants to be free and the more inhumanly he is treated, "raised his musket… aim at his standing victim… Demby [a slave shot unjustly] was no more… horror flashed through every soul upon the plantation" (67) the more he accepts his plight as a slave that opens up his major theme. He comes to realize that the slaves lose their personality and identity the more submissive and down trodden they become. Unable to think of only protecting their survival, they begin to believe they are unworthy of being saved. As they are awarded more freedoms, the slaves begin to realize that what has been taken from them is actually their right to have, "a city slave is almost a freeman" (79). Freedom looks more and more precious the closer they are to achieving it until it becomes an obsession and they will fight to the death to become freemen. The literary work the Narrative expresses two main views of women, neither of which are to be taken as positive values even in the 1800’s. In a very unfavorable light, Douglass tells the reader that slave women were expected to work alongside the men doing the same hard, dirty labor or they were used to watch the children when they become, "too old for field labor" (48). In Narrative, Mr. Covey, "buys one slave… for a breeder" (105). The men in Narrative believe women are only good for sex and they do not hesitate to use them as such. Another example is that Frederick’s father was, "whispered… my master was my father [Captain Anthony]" (49). The slave holder was not above satisfying his sexual urges by the usage of black slaves. The book was easily digested and powerful yet Douglass softened the tone by not becoming graphic when he had every right to do so. This was the first publication of the book and it would be interesting to see how much "gentler" he was by the third rewrite. Published by the Anti Slavery Committee, it was definitely biased against the slave holder but Douglass seemed to write fairly of his experiences especially since he was able to relate both good and bad experiences with his slave owners. Douglass’ words sum it up the best, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man." (107) Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Aristotle conceived of three appeals for existence: ethos, pathos and logos, all of which are prevalent in all forms of writing, entertainment, speech, and generally life itself. Fredrick Douglass used all three appeals in writing his narrative as part of his rhetorical strategy to enlighten the public of both his life and his cause more than one hundred years ago. He specifically uses ethos, or persona, in three ways: to identify himself to the reader, to provide to the credibility of his statement and to evoke a need for change through his writing style. Fredrick Douglass grows from a slave boy to a freed man throughout Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave and he uses this transition and identity to provide an outlet to which the reader can identify. Douglass first produces this with the absence of dates. Slaves were kept “ignorant” as to the facts of the real world, sometimes not even knowing the year of their birth, preventing the knowledge of a captive’s true age. A birthday is something with which people can identify, as they are a celebrated part of our culture, especially to youth. Douglass here identifies himself as a human being almost lacking what we may consider a normal childhood simply through the use of dates. These are very important to our culture, counting down the days until your birthday, until Christmas. We identify ourselves by the dates which surround the events of our lives. Part of our identity is formed from dates and this was a privilege he was denied. He is, however, eventually provided a window of opportunity in many to not only learn dates, but gain a general feel for knowledge as well. When the open door of learning that his mistress provided was permanently closed, he says, "it was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty-to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement and I prized it highly. From that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom" (Douglass 78). Douglass was learning and he didn’t want to give it up. The reader is able to see how much he valued knowledge and his ironclad will to keep that door open. In doing this, Douglass identifies himself as a growing child, forced down by circumstances beyond his control. He is growing, he is learning, he is maturing, and like a small child who asks question after question, he will not rest until his thirst for knowledge is quelled. As he gains more and more knowledge, his hunger and curiosity grow, and as he is satisfied in this aspect, his hunger for freedom matures. This becomes prevalent in his actions; as one of his Masters, Captain Auld put it, “city life … had almost ruined me for every good purpose and fitted me for everything which was bad” (Douglass 99). His experience caused him to grow as a person and individual. An old cliché states that knowledge is power; Douglass had learned this first hand and was growing into a person with the courage to fight back and eventually claim his freedom. Throughout the book, Douglass presents himself as a person, forced to overcome incredible barriers to achieve that which many of us take for granted through the stories he tells. He first ensures that the reader can identify with him before going into the innate details of a particular tale, thus ensuring whatever emotion he is trying to evoke. It was also imperative that Douglass demonstrate his growth as a huma...