Literacy, Identity And Liberation & # 8211 ; The Life Of Fr Essay, Research Paper

LITERACY, IDENTITY AND LIBERATION Frederick Douglass proved that bondage was incorrect by educating himself to the world in which he was sheltered from by being a slave. His literacy was used to garner information in texts that helped him proved that being enslaved was an unfairness non merely to himself but as a whole to all the people viewed sidelong to him. His base on balls of entire growing, from an nescient kid born into bondage to a literate free adult male talking to the universe, was cleared for him by his literacy. Frederick Douglass believed that a deficiency of instruction was the footing of subjugation ( and still is ) and he used his instruction as a manner to organize an individuality, which is liberated, both physically and mentally, from bondage. Douglass & # 8217 ; felicity came from his desire to read, and with this desire to read came a desire to understand his readings, and with this desire came his hate of bondage and a greater motive to accomplish freedom. & # 8220 ; I have observed & # 8230 ; that whenever my status was improved, it merely increased my desire to be free & # 8230 ; ( 93-94 ) While traveling through adversities and sunken in depression, he had no wish to read, but his felicity was non complete without his passion to read. For a slave, Douglass led a reasonably good life under the service of the Aulds in St.Michael & # 8217 ; s. He ever had adequate to eat, he was non beaten, and he was even taught his alphabet by Mrs. Sophia Auld. As a immature male child, Douglass did non believe much of his acquisition to read at that clip. When Douglass was a small older, Mr. Auld accidentally revealed to him what the footing of the white adult male & # 8217 ; s power over the inkinesss was ; control of literacy. Within the Auld household, the issue of bondage was destroying their relationship with Douglass. From so on, whatever Master Hugh & # 8220 ; most awful, I [ Douglass ] most coveted. That which to him was & # 8230 ; to be carefully shunned, was to me & # 8230 ; to be diligently sought. & # 8221 ; ( 58 ) This peculiar episode ignited Douglass & # 8217 ; will to larn how to read. Douglass hoped for a better hereafter get downing with his instruction. He foremost had to larn about a different manner of life before he could be after for one. An instruction would spread out his head about life, bondage, and most significantly freedom. & # 8221 ; It can non be that I shall populate and decease a slave. There is a better twenty-four hours coming, & # 8221 ; ( 67 ) . Douglass realized he couldn t populate his whole life in bondage because without an instruction he would hold ne’er known of this better life. Douglass knew that the lone advantage the slave owner & # 8217 ; s have over their slaves is the ignorance they keep them in. His physical flight from bondage occurred because of his consciousness, whereas he mentally escaped from these horrors through his Hagiographas, and he proved to the universe that he was a capable, literate adult male merely as worthy of equality as anyone else. Douglass & # 8217 ; book helped him to organize an individuality by screening out his life and covering with his yesteryear. This gave everyone within reach the inside narrative on how a slave truly feels and lives. Slaves could no longer be viewed as belongings if their feelings, hopes, and dreams were revealed because this showed that slaves were human being and non merely cowss used for work or animate beings with sub-human life criterions. This changed his individuality from that of merely a piece of belongings to that of an equal, caring adult male. It besides gave few others individuality by giving them something that they could associate to if they were literate. But merely holding his Hagiographas published would rise people s consciousness of what a slave existent goes through and possibly convey release to more slaves like himself. He became unafraid plenty in his ain individuality to be able to compose for himself. Narrative in itself allowed Douglass to be free because it was a signifier of release for himself. Writing down your feelings and ideas on a topic has an unbelievable manner of let go ofing you from your suppressions and besides of allowing you go where you were afraid to travel earlier. He strongly believed that it was the illiteracy and the ignorance of the black race that gave the

white adult male the power to enslave them. He felt that linguistic communication equaled power, so if the slaves had been more literate, so they may hold been able to get away from imprisonment quicker. Furthermore, it was his ability to show himself through linguistic communication that allowed him to accomplish some grade of mental release from his capturers. This is best portrayed in Douglass’ “Letter to Thomas Auld.” By knocking Auld, he placed himself on the same degree of humanity as his maestro. In this, Douglass constructed a relationship based on equality between himself and Auld. He felt that since had become a free and comfortable adult male, he had the right to turn to Auld as his equal. ( 134-141 )

Douglass moved on to populate with Thomas Auld even though they had a figure of differences. Thomas Auld and his brother Hugh Auld had the same positions on bondage, which was the belief that learning a slave to read would & # 8220 ; everlastingly unfit him to be a slave. He would at one time become unmanageable.. & # 8221 ; ( 57 ) Master Thomas had told Douglass that he was ruined for every good intent, and was fitted for everything which was bad. The route to being literate did non come easy for him demoing that his doggedness in his thrust to go literate would finally come out. When Douglass was under the service of Mr.William Freeland, his desire to read and compose returned with a passion. This was because Douglass credited Freeland as being & # 8220 ; the best maestro I of all time had, till I became my ain maestro. ( 84-85 ) He wanted to portion this with his fellow slaves by learning them to read, so Sundays became devoted to learning them in Sabbath School. This was rather appropriate for Douglass, since he was sharing with his brothers something that was about sacred to him. By sharing learning literacy to the other slaves he non merely empowered them by the information they received, but he besides contributed to the multitudes by get downing the obliteration procedure that would be followed for decennaries to come. At this clip, the joy of teaching his fellow slaves encouraged him to do at least one flight effort during the twelvemonth. Soon, the thought of get awaying became a existent prod to him particularly after reading & # 8220 ; the Columbian Orator. Douglass encountered transition after transition about freedom, autonomy, democracy, bravery, virtuousness, and so away. He particularly learned and recited transitions about the multilayered antithesis of slave dealer and bondage. Bingham s book besides included a usher to techniques of oratory and fluency. This book wrote left a dramatic impact on Douglass early life. He read about the slave who argued so articulately with his maestro, and was eventually set free. With this, the idea of life-long bondage was embedded in Douglass & # 8217 ; caput, even after he became a free adult male. Douglass & # 8217 ; friends were the sort of people with whom he wanted to portion his dreams of flight and freedom. While learning them to read, he besides wanted to learn them the immoralities of bondage, in the manner that immature Douglass had himself learned. With the great appetency for literacy that Douglass placed in their caputs, he besides embedded their heads with a thirst for freedom. & # 8220 ; I have found that, to do a contented slave, it is necessary to do a thoughtless one & # 8230 ; to eliminate the power of reason. & # 8221 ; ( 94 ) A & # 8220 ; contented slave & # 8221 ; ( 94 ) would be easy manageable under the footings of bondage. Once that slave found his head, was enlightened by visions of the free universe, began to apologize and ground, or became educated and literate, he became & # 8220 ; unfit to be a slave ( 57 ) and would desire to be free and feel respected. Ultimately, his literacy could take him up the tract to freedom, to where Frederick Douglass was taken. Slaves were denied many things like an instruction and an individuality. It is an amazing accomplishment for him to hold acquired both. Douglass uses his Hagiographas as a manner to go a stronger single. & # 8220 ; What is possible for me is possible for you. & # 8221 ; By taking these keys and doing them his ain, Frederick Douglass created a life of award, regard and success that he could ne’er hold dreamed of when still a male child on Colonel Lloyd & # 8217 ; s plantation.