Analysis of the Narrative of Fredrick Douglas
Analysis of the Narrative of Fredrick Douglas
The book opens describing an almost blurring view of Douglas’ past. It tells of his family’s separation, and how life on the farm was not based on families, but on groups that could come and go with the blink of an eye. This is different than the views that are often given. Life as a slave was different than one may think, slaveholders felt that the slaves needed to be kept in line, and shouldn’t be given even a slight opportunity to have personal feelings or ideas. The slaves were almost considered like machines. Even, perhaps, the entire slave population was considered like one big machine. Separate components may be replaced and may perform different functions, but it didn’t matter exactly who performed a task, just as long as it was finished. The break in this ideology is when Douglas is sent to work for a relative and then yet another relative.
However, as soon as his original master dies, Douglas is required back on the ranch for a property tally. Soon, Douglas is required to work in the fields for the first time in his life. This is a shocking difference from what one may expect. The normal thought of somebody who had not studied is that slaves didn’t have special opportunities, and would work in the fields for their entire life. He (Douglas) was sent to somebody to be ‘broken in’, just like a boot. During this processes, a slave would get beat more than they had ever been before, and would have to learn how to do the necessary work. After this, Douglas was shipped from farm to farm, for a year or two at a time. Again, yet another difference in the common conceptions of slavery. The common conception is that slaves tended to either belong to a master, or were sold to a new one, however, slaves were actually rented for a year, and often never, or hardly ever, saw their real masters. The last part of the book was the one that shocked me the most. Douglas actually worked at a professional type job, and even went as far as an independent contractor, supervised by his master. This was completely different than the common conception of slavery, where slaves...