frederick douglass literacy essay

3.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Read in several genres to understand how conventions are shaped by purpose, language, culture, and expectation.
• Use reading for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating in varying rhetorical and cultural contexts.
• Read a diverse range of texts, attending to relationships among ideas, patterns of organization, and interplay between verbal and nonverbal elements.

Introduction

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was born into slavery in Maryland. He never knew his father, barely knew his mother, and was separated from his grandmother at a young age. As a boy, Douglass understood there to be a connection between literacy and freedom. In the excerpt from his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave , that follows, you will learn about how Douglass learned to read. By age 12, he was reading texts about the natural rights of human beings. At age 15, he began educating other enslaved people. When Douglass was 20, he met Anna Murray, whom he would later marry. Murray helped Douglass plot his escape from slavery. Dressed as a sailor, Douglass bought a train ticket northward. Within 24 hours, he arrived in New York City and declared himself free. Douglass went on to work as an activist in the abolitionist movement as well as the women’s suffrage movement.

In the portion of the text included here, Douglass chooses to represent the dialogue of Mr. Auld, an enslaver who by the laws of the time owns Douglass. Douglass describes this moment with detail and accuracy, including Mr. Auld’s use of a racial slur. In an interview with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Harvard professor Randall Kennedy (b. 1954), who has traced the historical evolution of the word, notes that one of its first uses, recorded in 1619, appears to have been descriptive rather than derogatory. However, by the mid-1800s, White people had appropriated the term and begun using it with its current negative connotation. In response, over time, Black people have reclaimed the word (or variations of it) for different purposes, including mirroring racism, creating irony, and reclaiming community and personal power—using the word for a contrasting purpose to the way others use it. Despite this evolution, Professor Kennedy explains that the use of the word should be accompanied by a deep understanding of one’s audience and by being clear about the intention. However, even when intention is very clear and malice is not intended, harm can, and likely will, occur. Thus, Professor Kennedy cautions that all people should understand the history of the word, be aware of its potential negative effect on an audience, and therefore use it sparingly, or preferably not at all.

In the case of Mr. Auld and Douglass, Douglass gives an account of Auld’s exact language in order to hold a mirror to the racism of Mr. Auld—and the reading audience of his memoir—and to emphasize the theme that literacy (or education) is one way to combat racism.

Living by Their Own Words

Literacy from unexpected sources.

annotated text From the title and from Douglass’s use of pronoun I, you know this work is autobiographical and therefore written from the first-person point of view. end annotated text

public domain text [excerpt begins with first full paragraph on page 33 and ends on page 34 where the paragraph ends] end public domain text

public domain text Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. end public domain text

annotated text Douglass describes the background situation and the culture of the time, which he will defy in his quest for literacy. The word choice in his narration of events indicates that he is writing for an educated audience. end annotated text

public domain text To use his own words, further, he said, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now,” said he, “if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy.” end public domain text

annotated text In sharing this part of the narrative, Douglass underscores the importance of literacy. He provides a description of Mr. Auld, a slaveholder, who seeks to impose illiteracy as a means to oppress others. In this description of Mr. Auld’s reaction, Douglass shows that slaveholders feared the power that enslaved people would have if they could read and write. end annotated text

annotated text Douglass provides the details of Auld’s dialogue not only because it is a convention of narrative genre but also because it demonstrates the purpose and motivation for his forthcoming pursuit of literacy. We have chosen to maintain the authenticity of the original text by using the language that Douglass offers to quote Mr. Auld’s dialogue because it both provides context for the rhetorical situation and underscores the value of the attainment of literacy for Douglass. However, contemporary audiences must understand that this language should be uttered only under very narrow circumstances in any current rhetorical situation. In general, it is best to avoid its use. end annotated text

public domain text These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. 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. It was just what I wanted, and I got it at a time when I the least expected it. Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master. end public domain text

annotated text In this reflection, Douglass has a definitive and transformative moment with reading and writing. The moment that sparked a desire for literacy is a common feature in literacy narratives, particularly those of enslaved people. In that moment, he understood the value of literacy and its life-changing possibilities; that transformative moment is a central part of the arc of this literacy narrative. end annotated text

public domain text Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read. The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he was deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read. What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn. In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both. end public domain text

annotated text Douglass articulates that this moment changed his relationship to literacy and ignited a purposeful engagement with language and learning that would last throughout his long life. The rhythm, sentence structure, and poetic phrasing in this reflection provide further evidence that Douglass, over the course of his life, actively pursued and mastered language after having this experience with Mr. Auld. end annotated text

public domain text [excerpt continues with the beginning of Chapter 7 on page 36 and ends with the end of the paragraph at the top of page 39] end public domain text

public domain text [In Chapter 7, the narrative continues] I lived in Master Hugh’s family about seven years. During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagems. I had no regular teacher. My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had, in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by any one else. It is due, however, to my mistress to say of her, that she did not adopt this course of treatment immediately. She at first lacked the depravity indispensable to shutting me up in mental darkness. It was at least necessary for her to have some training in the exercise of irresponsible power, to make her equal to the task of treating me as though I were a brute. end public domain text

public domain text My mistress was, as I have said, a kind and tender-hearted woman; and in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with her, to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another. In entering upon the duties of a slaveholder, she did not seem to perceive that I sustained to her the relation of a mere chattel, and that for her to treat me as a human being was not only wrong, but dangerously so. Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me. When I went there, she was a pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman. There was no sorrow or suffering for which she had not a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness. The first step in her downward course was in her ceasing to instruct me. She now commenced to practise her husband’s precepts. She finally became even more violent in her opposition than her husband himself. end public domain text

annotated text Douglass describes in detail a person in his life and his relationship to her. He uses specific diction to describe her kindness and to help readers get to know her—a “tear” for the “suffering”; “bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner.” end annotated text

public domain text She was not satisfied with simply doing as well as he had commanded; she seemed anxious to do better. Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay the danger. I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension. She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible with each other. end public domain text

annotated text The fact that Douglass can understand the harm caused by the institution of slavery to slaveholders as well as to enslaved people shows a level of sophistication in thought, identifies the complexity and detriment of this historical period, and demonstrates an acute awareness of the rhetorical situation, especially for his audience for this text. The way that he articulates compassion for the slaveholders, despite their ill treatment of him, would create empathy in his readers and possibly provide a revelation for his audience. end annotated text

public domain text From this time I was most narrowly watched. If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of myself. All this, however, was too late. The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch , and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell . end public domain text

annotated text Once again, Douglass underscores the value that literacy has for transforming the lived experiences of enslaved people. The reference to the inch and the ell circles back to Mr. Auld’s warnings and recalls the impact of that moment on his life. end annotated text

public domain text The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I was sent of errands, I always took my book with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return. I used also to carry bread with me, enough of which was always in the house, and to which I was always welcome; for I was much better off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood. This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge. I am strongly tempted to give the names of two or three of those little boys, as a testimonial of the gratitude and affection I bear them; but prudence forbids;—not that it would injure me, but it might embarrass them; for it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country. end public domain text

annotated text Douglass comments on the culture of the time, which still permitted slavery; he is sensitive to the fact that these boys might be embarrassed by their participation in unacceptable, though humanitarian, behavior. His audience will also recognize the irony in his tone when he writes that it is “an unpardonable offense to teach slaves . . . in this Christian country.” Such behavior is surely “unchristian.” end annotated text

public domain text It is enough to say of the dear little fellows, that they lived on Philpot Street, very near Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard. I used to talk this matter of slavery over with them. I would sometimes say to them, I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men. “You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life ! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?” These words used to trouble them; they would express for me the liveliest sympathy, and console me with the hope that something would occur by which I might be free. end public domain text

annotated text Douglass pursues and attains literacy not only for his own benefit; his knowledge also allows him to begin to instruct, as well as advocate for, those around him. Douglass’s use of language and his understanding of the rhetorical situation give the audience evidence of the power of literacy for all people, round out the arc of his narrative, and provide a resolution. end annotated text

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Frederick Douglass & The Power of Literacy

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• Frederick Douglass & The Power of Literacy

In Frederick Douglass’s autobiographical narrative, he explores the power of education in slavery, one of the most important themes in the narrative. Literacy is initially the beacon of hope that reminds Douglass that there is ultimately freedom from slavery. However, learning to read reveals to Douglass the horrific truth of slavery, transforming his views on the opportunities that are rooted in literacy. He realizes that learning to read has only pushed him further into the depths of slavery rather than helped him fight for liberty. Though the immediate impact of literacy on Douglass reveals the paradox of education in his life as a slave, Douglass’s views on literacy ultimately shift from paradoxical to positive. Douglass finds that education has only led him deeper into the chains of slavery, but he eventually sees the power to be gained from literacy and the potential to use literacy as a tool to fight against slavery.

When Douglass was first introduced to the world of literacy by his mistress, he described his first few lessons with passion and zeal, explaining the joy he felt when he was able to spell three-letter words. Upon being denied future lessons by his master, Douglass was even more attracted to becoming literate. He was enticed by his master’s fervent opposition to his learning, realizing that a slave becoming literate was liberation from his master. He writes, “From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 32). As an illiterate slave, Douglass felt he was completely at the mercy of his master, his only knowledge of the world coming from the man who had absolute power over him. However, becoming literate would give Douglass new power that would challenge his master’s control over him. After being forbidden from having lessons, Douglass persisted instead of dejectedly returning to his life of illiteracy as his master’s rejection “served to inspire [him] with a desire and determination to learn” (Douglass 32). Seeing how his master endeavored to keep the world of reading and writing from him and fellow slaves showed Douglass that there was immense power to be gained from what he could learn – power that could lead to liberty. His master’s resistance towards his learning revealed a deep fear in his slaves becoming more educated and thus destroying his superiority over them. Becoming intellectually equal to his master would leave Mr. Auld, vulnerable to the newly gained knowledge of Douglass and his fellow slaves, no longer keeping his slaves submissive to his orders.

After describing his inspiration to secretly educate himself, Douglass tells the story of his journey to literacy. He immediately reveals that he grew disgusted with his life as a slave, as the world of slavery was fraught with horror and hateful exchanges between masters and slaves. Though it was once something he highly revered, literacy showed Douglass the horrific truth of slavery. He was repulsed by the idea that slaves were taken from their homes and made to be property with no value or rights. Douglass writes, “It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but no ladder upon which to get out” when describing how powerless he felt when reading about slavery” (Douglass 36). Instead of gaining a deeper understanding of the world around him and how to remove himself from his situation, he only fell deeper into the hateful clutches of slavery with no way to escape. Douglass was left despising his enslavers a great deal more than before and the hope he had for liberty through literacy vanished. The idea of abolition was dangled in front of him, but Douglass had no way to take action against slavery as his reading showed him the utter lack of power slaves had against their masters. Douglass was tortured by his constant thinking over what he had learned about slavery, envying his “fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 36). Douglass felt as though they lived in blissful ignorance, unaware of the true nature and inhumanity of slavery, while he could no longer be sheltered by that ignorance as his choice to pursue literacy led him to face the harsh truth of slavery.

Douglass emphasizes the importance of education through many descriptions of his journey to literacy. Initially, Douglass was angry with the knowledge he gained through reading, causing him to view literacy as “a curse rather than a blessing” (Douglass 35). Douglass was forced to acknowledge that his masters were correct in saying that only disappointment was to be gained from his learning to read. Though Douglass believed that the only way to freedom was through literacy, at the same time, literacy led him to loathe his live as a slave as he felt overcome with the chains of slavery that confined him to a life not worth living. As he continues his journey to literacy, Douglass uses his experiences to highlight the paradox of literacy in the lives of slaves, though he ultimately believed that education was beneficial and necessary for all slaves. The power of literacy, though difficult to bear, was a tool that will allow him to organize an abolition movement. Douglass’s passion for education led him to create a Sabbath School for his fellow slaves. He was desperate to teach those whose “minds had been starved by their cruel masters” (Douglass 60). No longer did he feel that his fellow slaves should live in ignorance over their enslavement. Douglass prized knowledge of the truth very highly. Though learning about the inhumanity of slavery disturbed him, Douglass was determined to educate all slaves in order to create something larger – an army to fight an intellectual war against slavery. An abolition movement required individuals to come together to work against slavery rather than to conserve the hope and ignorance of each individual slave. Although that would require slaves to learn the horrific truth about slavery, working towards destroying the entire institution of slavery would validate their sacrifices.

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Tags: Autobiography of a Slave , Douglass , English , Frederick Douglass , Literacy , Literature , Slavery

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A Dangerous Literacy: The Legacy of Frederick Douglass

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By Henry Louis Gates Jr.

• May 28, 1995

ONE hundred and fifty years ago, on May 28, Frederick Douglass published the first of his three autobiographies, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself." He was barely 27 years old and already a popular figure on the abolition lecture circuit. Almost overnight he would become the most celebrated black author in history; his slender volume supplanted a book of verses by the 18th-century slave poet Phillis Wheatley as the abolitionists' favorite emblem of black eloquence and intelligence. By the time Douglass died, 100 years ago this past February, he had long been accustomed to being the most famous Negro in the world. Years before, he had been dubbed "the representative colored man of the United States" -- a title that surely implied a confinement as well as a coronation, but that he wore proudly. The former slave, in so many ways the least representative of men, had become a great orator, abolitionist and -- in a phrase much in favor these days -- the first black "public intellectual."

Lionized in the 19th century, Douglass has been canonized in the 20th. The bibliography of the Modern Language Association bulges with critical treatises on his prose, and the centenary of his death has been marked by conferences and symposiums in his honor. Almost every aspect of his life has been laboriously interpreted and reinterpreted. We have been reintroduced to Douglass the slave, who painstakingly "stole" the secrets of literacy and who daringly made his escape in 1838 on the eastern shore of Maryland, by train and boat, disguised as a sailor; Douglass the statesman -- he was appointed marshal for the District of Columbia by Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877, and minister and consul general to Haiti by Benjamin Harrison in 1889; Douglass the newspaper publisher -- he founded the newspaper North Star in Rochester in 1847, and remained in some measure a newspaperman until 1874.

Moreover, Douglass is one of the very few black figures to have occasioned a steady flow of biographies, from those by Booker T. Washington and by Charles Chesnutt at the turn of the century to those by Waldo E. Martin Jr., by David W. Blight and, most recently, by William S. McFeely. Even W. E. B. Du Bois, Douglass's true heir as a public intellectual and a man given neither to magnanimity nor to sentimentality, was moved to write a poem in Douglass's honor on the night he heard of his death: Then Douglass passed -- his massive form

Still quivering at unrighted Wrong. . . .

Live, warm and wondrous memory,

my Douglass,

Live, all men do love Thee.

But it is his autobiographical work -- and "Narrative of the Life" most of all -- that has attracted the bulk of critical attention. No fewer than 12 editions are available, including an audio one and annotated editions by David Blight and the Library of America. Douglass's "Narrative" has been deconstructed, reconstructed, historicized, New Historicized, psychoanalyzed and otherwise subjected to every implement of textual torture my profession has been able to devise. Few black writers have so lent themselves to reinterpretation, and few have been so subject to it.

The book aroused excitement among critics and readers from the beginning. In a review in The New York Tribune, the transcendentalist Margaret Fuller, whose acceptance of the universe did not extend to its slaveholders, wrote: "Considered merely as narrative, we have never read one more simple, true, coherent and warm with genuine feeling. It is an excellent piece of writing, and on that score to be prized as a specimen of the power of the Black Race, which prejudice persists in disputing." The book was an overnight best seller. By 1847, it had sold 11,000 copies, in nine editions. By 1850, 30,000 copies had been sold, including English, French and Irish editions.

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The Narrative of Frederick Douglass

Frederick douglass.

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Frederick Douglass's The Narrative of Frederick Douglass . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

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Historical Context of The Narrative of Frederick Douglass

Other books related to the narrative of frederick douglass.

• Full Title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
• When Written: 1845
• Where Written: Massachusetts
• When Published: 1845
• Literary Period: Abolitionist
• Genre: Autobiography
• Setting: Maryland and the American Northeast
• Climax: [Not exactly applicable] Douglass’s escape from slavery
• Antagonist: Slaveholders and religious hypocrites
• Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for The Narrative of Frederick Douglass

Prove It! Douglass’s autobiography was written in part as a response to critics who believed that Douglass was far too articulate to have actually been a slave.

Renaissance Man: After his fame and success as an abolitionist leader, Douglass went on to serve several high-ranking positions in the U.S. government, including head of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, U.S. Marshall and Registrar of Deeds for the District of Columbia, and diplomatic envoy to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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On the Self-Education of Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and the Insatiable Quest for Literacy

Brandon p. fleming recalls the life-changing lessons of undergrad.

Crossing campus to DeMoss Hall, it felt like I was walking the green mile. A marble fountain guards the giant four-story edifice. Roman columns tower above an Olympian staircase ascending to an imposing entranceway. Once inside, it took me a minute to find the offices for the English and Modern Languages faculty, which were tucked away in a side hallway behind an anonymous double door. I walked the main hall of this building nearly every day, but I had never noticed the faculty offices. Nor had I ever looked at the wall of display cases filled with trophies or read the four words emblazoned above the exhibit: LIBERTY UNIVERSITY DEBATE CENTER. It meant nothing to me.

When Professor Nelson saw me at the open door of her office, she gestured toward a chair that was perhaps the only uncluttered surface in the room. Huge bookcases were crammed with shabby paperbacks and pristine hardbacks, and unsteady stacks of books rose from the floor like a city skyline. Her desk was littered with typewritten pages bleeding red ink, empty coffee mugs rested on stained napkins, and a formal, gold-framed portrait of what must have been her family looked disapprovingly down at the mess.

After I sat and shucked off my backpack, she reached into a laptop bag and extracted a sheaf of double-spaced pages with my name at the top. She slid the sheets toward me and let silence settle for a minute.

“Did you write this?” she asked. Her tone was calm, not accusatory, leaving the door open to candor. I considered my next lie, thumbing through the pages before nudging them back to a neutral position.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

Time froze as various scenarios played in my mind. She might pick up the essay and say, “Brandon, this is superb!” Or maybe she’d turn sarcastic and say, “You sure fooled me; there’s no way I could have ever detected that you stole this peer-reviewed essay from JSTOR.” But she did neither. Instead, she set the essay aside, as if it was not the most important matter. She looked calmly at me, her elbows resting on the desk and her fingers interlaced. She leaned forward and said, “I want to know more about you.”

Minutes passed and it was as though the essay was forgotten. She asked about my family, my aspirations, my struggles. Not as though she was interrogating me, but as though she cared to know. As we talked, my lie lingering unattended between us, I felt my wall of wariness begin to crack. But I didn’t recant.

In the course of an hour, we exchanged tears, laughter, and promises. She was vulnerable with me: she told me about having surgery for cancer. I was vulnerable with her: I told her about my history of drugs and violence. She made me feel safe. We laughed at stories about her childhood. I told her stories about my own. We went from chuckling to whooping with laughter, like old friends chatting under ideal circumstances.

I never thought that I could bond with an older white woman. Then our conversation suddenly shifted. There was a natural pause in our exchange as she softly smiled at me like I was her own child. Then came the blindside hit.

“Brandon,” she said, “just tell me the truth.”

She’d tricked me. Soon as I had let her in. I should have seen this coming. My childhood, my secrets, her stories that she used like bait to draw me in—it was all a ploy to make me defenseless. I felt exposed, like I had been meat-checked by an old white lady. I was furious and glared at her across her trashy desk, my fingernails sinking into my palms as I clenched and unclenched my fists because I did not know what else to do.

“You can tell me,” she said, seemingly unaffected by the shift happening before her eyes, my anger falling apart into confusion and pain. Her steady gaze spoke volumes. “I’m not your enemy,” she added softly.

But I did not believe her. My view of the world was so fractured that everyone was my enemy, out to expose my vulnerability and fraudulence. It made sense to assume that I was stranded in my lonely foxhole, and that no reinforcements or rescue party would ever come.

“Fine,” I said angrily. “The truth is I can’t read this stuff.”

Faulkner, Homer, Dante—I didn’t understand a word of their books. I admitted to plagiarism. I admitted to cheating on the five-question quizzes. I admitted to being just as dumb as she and my classmates supposed. I admitted that I was one F or W away from flunking out of college for the second time. My voice rose and cracked with stress and hopelessness. And when I wound down—before I could bolt from the room—she rose from her chair. She walked over to me. She wrapped her frail arms around my body and promised me that I was safe. I closed my eyes, and I rested my head on her shoulder as her empathy calmed my spirit.

“I understand if you have to fail me,” I said, head sunken.

“I’m not going to fail you,” she said, refusing to accept my surrender. “We are going to redo it.”

I didn’t understand what she meant by “we.” In this instance, simply allowing me to redo it would be an act of grace. But when I explained that English was too hard, that I wasn’t cut out for it because I was so many miles behind everyone else, she wouldn’t allow me to wallow in self-pity. She told me that I was not in it alone. She was willing to get down into the trenches and struggle with me until I figured it out. She went beyond the call of duty for me.

Over the next several months, she spent weekends and time outside of her office hours to help teach me how to read and write. But the way she did it was, perhaps, the most impactful. She met me where I was, as a Black man. She talked about two other Black men who’d charted their own journeys to literacy. Their names are Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. But I brushed aside these well-meaning comparisons, certain that my deficiencies were far worse than any shortcomings these men ever had. But she did not enable my self-pity. I saw everything that I wasn’t. But she saw everything that I had the potential to be.

“You have two decisions you can make,” she said to me one day. “You can moan about your disadvantages, or you can do something about them. The choice is yours.”

Suddenly, it struck me that I had been here before—not as a student, but as an athlete. When I was in middle school, I realized that I was not going to grow tall. I was fast, I was strong, I was skilled, but I was short. Yet as an eighth grader, I was recruited to play on the high school level of the Amateur Athletic Union, a national league for elite travel basketball. I’d send defenders crawling on the floor with swift crossovers, plow through the lane with agility, and spring in the air for a layup—only to have my shot deflected to the rafters by a six-foot-something giant who would stare me down as the crowd cheered. My confidence about my skill was undermined by worries about my height. I concluded that I was out of my league.

But Coach would have none of that. With a piece of gum flapping in the corner of his mouth, he’d step to my face and in his drill sergeant voice say, “We don’t complain, son. We compensate.” Excuses weren’t allowed. And if I, or any of us, ever tried to use them—it didn’t matter what point of practice we were in—he’d halt and roar, “You makin’ excuses, boy?” Then the whistle would blow as he screamed, “Assume the position!”

Fifteen wheezing bodies would hit the floor and, while doing push-ups, we’d chant in chorus: “Excuses are tools of incompetence, which build monuments of nothingness. And those who specialize in them seldom specialize in anything else.”

So I’d stopped making excuses on the court and invested in a pair of strength shoes, training sneakers with a platform in the front that forces your calf muscles to bear the strain of keeping your heels elevated. For an entire year, I spent hours in my garage—mornings, after school, weekends—jumping rope and doing plyometric training. By the time I reached the ninth grade, I could soar above the rim—dunking and jumping higher than most guys who were older and taller than me. It was this discipline—and the intense labor—that allowed me to play much taller than I was.

I realized that Coach and Professor Nelson were sending me the same message. There was probably no academic equivalent of strength shoes, but I wanted to know more about the two Black men she had mentioned. Of course, I’d heard their names before, thanks to dutiful Black history programming in school every February. Those learning modules were meant to engender respect for Black history, but they actually oversimplified and diminished it. Douglass was famous as an abolitionist and the sainted Black friend of Abraham Lincoln, but I knew nothing of him as a self-taught scholar and rhetorician. And when our textbooks or teachers made any mention of Malcolm X, he was positioned as the violent antithesis to Dr. King—not celebrated as a revolutionary and an autodidact.

I purchased the two books. I struggled to read them and it took a long time. My eyes watered, I fell asleep often, and I gave up several times. Not because I was uninterested. I was not conditioned to sit and read for extended periods. I spent more time looking up words than actually reading the books. I read through entire paragraphs and pages, then had to go back and read them again for understanding. It was tough, but there was something new and unusual pushing me through. As I read deeper, I was lost in the best way. And I was found in the same way. The feeling was euphoric, and foreign. Eventually, I finished. And it all made sense. If they could rise above their disadvantages to become scholars, there was no excuse for me.

Douglass was an illiterate slave. Malcolm was a dope-dealing gangster. Douglass had a teacher who barely taught him phonetics, and he took it upon himself to become a voracious and critical reader. Malcolm went to prison, and his journey to literacy began with his decision to copy thousands of words and definitions from the dictionary. They were me. I, too, was enslaved by ignorance. I, too, wanted to be delivered from the prison of my inferiority. I, too, felt the nakedness of being unlearned.

Rage mounted in me as I devoured these books. A certain fire is sparked when you realize that you’ve been deceived. All my life I’d believed that Black scholars didn’t exist. Maybe they existed somewhere in the world, but not in mine. They weren’t in my neighborhoods. They weren’t on my television. They weren’t in the textbooks that teachers wanted me to read. All I saw was Black gangstas and Black drug dealers and Black athletes. So that’s what I wanted to be, because that’s what I thought Black people did. Representation is the lens through which we aspire.

I saw Allen Iverson—with his cornrows and tattoos and urban swag—and I thought I could be him, because he looked like me. Sure, I had heard that only three of every 10,000 high school players ever make it to the NBA. But representation impacted me more than probability. When I saw Iverson, Stephon Marbury, and Vince Carter, I saw myself. And that was all that mattered for a kid who was learning how to dream.

Why is it that basketball was all I ever wanted? It’s because passion is born through exposure and affirmation. My mother had put a ball in my hands. She’d showed me what to do with it. Then she’d told me that I was good. But what if someone had put a book in my hands instead of a ball? What if someone had showed me how to read and then told me that I was smart? What if that book had exposed me to something great about my people and my identity that I could be proud of? What if it had showed that I was a part of a rich legacy of greatness? What if it had exposed me to my heritage and native land in a way that did not depict Africa as the quintessence of poverty? What if it had showed me something about my culture that is inspiring, not injurious, and that did not pretend that Black history began with slavery, or that did not relegate Black achievement to a 400-year freedom struggle?

As I kept on reading, I soon realized that history is told by the victor. Told from the perspective of the person who wields the pen like a spoil of war. And the oppressed are left with a narrow study of their own defeat, left out of the story or indoctrinated with the fiction of inferiority. My life would have been completely different had I known these truths. But I knew them now. And I was ready to do the work of undoing my own miseducation.

__________________________________

Excerpted from MISEDUCATED: A Memoir by Brandon Fleming. Copyright © 2021. Available from Hachette Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass — “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”: An Analysis

"The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass": an Analysis

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Updated: 29 March, 2024

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Related Essays on Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass is one of the most renowned figures of the abolitionist movement in America. His autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is widely considered to be a seminal work in American literature and [...]

Overview of Frederick Douglass's autobiography and its historical significance Mention of Douglass's use of stylistic elements in his writing Explanation of how Douglass employs metaphors to vividly describe his [...]

Frederick Douglass's narrative, aptly titled "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave," is a powerful account of the inhumane experiences endured by enslaved African Americans in the United States [...]

Despite differences in genre and content, both The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Douglass himself present a dehumanization of the seemingly [...]

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the author analyzes how Christian religion is practiced in the ante-bellum South. From Douglass’ perspective as a slave, he finds Christianity in the still slave-holding South [...]

From the moment his master forbade him to learn to read, Frederick Douglass, a writer and former slave, realized that literacy was the “pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 77). He seemed to be talking about his own escape [...]

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History Resources

Selected Essays about Frederick Douglass

Many essays about Frederick Douglass and his times have been published on the Gilder Lehrman Institute website and in  History Now , the online journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute. The selected essays listed below provide historical perspective for teachers, students, and general readers. 

The first essay is open to everyone for free. The rest of the essays are available by  subscription  to History Resources or History Now (both free for K–12 teachers and students in the free Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School Program; to join visit this page:  Affiliate School Program ).

Frederick Douglass: An Example for the Twenty-First Century  by Noelle N. Trent (National Civil Rights Museum)

Director of Interpretation, Collections, and Education at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, Noelle N. Trent writes about Frederick Douglass’s legacy and influence on the present day in this essay. 

“The Merits of This Fearful Conflict”: Douglass on the Causes of the Civil War  by David Blight (Yale University)

Historian David Blight discusses Douglass’s reflection on the Civil War and his fear that Americans were forgetting about the root causes of the war in their efforts to reconcile the North and the South. 

Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Freedom  by Steven Mintz (University of Texas at Austin)

Historian Steven Mintz writes about Douglass’s journey from being enslaved to becoming one of the most prominent Black activists of his time. 

The Lion of All Occasions: The Great Black Abolitionist Frederick Douglass by Manisha Sinha (University of Connecticut)

Historian Manisha Sinha writes about Douglass’s work as an abolitionist in this essay from the Winter 2018 issue of History Now,  “Frederick Douglass at 200.”

Douglass the Autobiographer by Robert S. Levine (University of Maryland, College Park)

Professor Robert S. Levine discusses Frederick Douglass’s autobiographies and writing in this essay from the Winter 2018 issue of History Now,  “Frederick Douglass at 200.”

Frederick Douglass, Orator by Sarah Meer (University of Cambridge)

Sarah Meer, a professor of nineteenth-century literature, explores Douglass’s work through his speeches. 

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Collection Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress

In his own words.

To understand Frederick Douglass, his struggles, and the times he lived in, one must read about his life in his own words. Below are links to complete online texts of all three Douglass autobiographies. Two have been part of online collections at the Library of Congress; one is provided by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is the 1849 edition of Douglass's first autobiography, originally published in 1845. The electronic edition was originally created as part of the American Memory online collection The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925.

My Bondage and My Freedom External is Douglass's expanded autobiography first published in 1855. The 1857 edition appears as part of The Nineteenth Century in Print, an American Memory collection in collaboration with the University of Michigan's Making of America

The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass External is Douglass's final autobiography, first published in 1881. This electronic edition is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries' Documenting the American South External digitization project, created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Frederick Douglass : the Importance of Education and Literacy

This essay about Frederick Douglass explores his profound impact on American history, emphasizing his unwavering belief in education and literacy as tools for liberation. It highlights Douglass’s from slavery to enlightenment, his advocacy for universal education, and his enduring legacy as a champion of freedom and equality. Through eloquent prose, it underscores the transformative power of education in shaping both individuals and societies, echoing Douglass’s timeless message of liberation through literacy.

How it works

In the vibrant mosaic of American history, one figure gleams with a luminosity all its own—Frederick Douglass. Born into the crucible of slavery in 1818, Douglass left an indelible mark on the narrative of liberation, fueled by an unwavering faith in the alchemy of education and literacy. His odyssey from bondage to enlightenment stands as a dazzling testament to the profound impact of learning in emancipating both individuals and societies from the chains of ignorance.

Douglass grasped early on that education was not merely about the accumulation of knowledge; it was the key to unlocking the mind’s liberation.

Denied the basic right to literacy, he recognized the pivotal role it played in dismantling the shackles of oppression. Despite the draconian prohibitions placed upon enslaved minds, Douglass embarked on a clandestine voyage of self-discovery, stealthily imbibing the forbidden fruits of knowledge. In the dim glow of secrecy, he voraciously consumed books and parchments, carving out his own path from bondage to enlightenment.

The contours of Douglass’s journey were etched by the lines of his own narrative, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” In this seminal work, he not only laid bare the horrors of slavery but also illuminated the transformative power of literacy in his personal emancipation. Through the written word, Douglass transcended the confines of his circumstances, giving voice to the unquenchable human longing for freedom and dignity.

Yet, for Douglass, education was not solely a means of personal liberation; it was the cornerstone of societal progress. Armed with the weapon of literacy, he wielded his words as a mighty hammer against the fortress of slavery, delivering impassioned speeches and incisive writings that reverberated across the antebellum landscape. His eloquence was not mere rhetoric but a clarion call to action, stirring a nation to confront the moral abomination of slavery.

Douglass understood that the pursuit of freedom extended beyond the confines of slavery to the corridors of power. In the wake of emancipation, he became a fervent advocate for universal public education, recognizing that an enlightened citizenry was essential for the preservation of democracy. His vision of education encompassed not just the classroom but a lifelong commitment to learning and intellectual inquiry.

In the pantheon of American heroes, Frederick Douglass occupies a place of honor, his legacy enduring as a beacon of hope and inspiration for generations to come. His life exemplifies the enduring power of education and literacy to emancipate minds and uplift souls. As we navigate the challenges of our time, let us heed Douglass’s call to harness the transformative power of education to build a more just and equitable society. For in Douglass’s own immortal words, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

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PapersOwl.com. (2024). Frederick Douglass : The Importance Of Education And Literacy . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/frederick-douglass-the-importance-of-education-and-literacy/ [Accessed: 16-Sep-2024]

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