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Teacher:
The Story of Frederick Douglass
Every story usually has two sides, that of the antagonist and the other side of the protagonist. In the book Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, the protagonist is the central character himself; Fredrick Douglass. He was born as a slave and grew up totally isolated from his parents, especially the mother, Harriet Bailey. Fredrick lived under his slave master, Colonel Lloyd, after being separated from his parents at birth. This separation from his immediate parents only left him with distant memories of his grandparents, Isaac and Betsey Bailey. While he didn’t manage to enjoy the warmth of a mother’s tender care and love, his grandmother managed to shower him with love and warmth in almost similar measure. He lived with the grand mum in her cabin for a while during his formative years.
His stay with the grand mother would be short-lived however, as he would come to realize. Shortly afterwards, Douglass was sent to live with the Old Master, thereby leaving the cabin, in which he lived with the grandmother. Not only was this devastating, it was also crushing for him, since his grandmother meant everything to him. He was now in a dilemma as to whether the Old Master would accord him the same kind of care that he received from the old lady. He also feared the treatment that he was going to get from the master, since he knew that he was the one responsible for the devastating outcome of separating him from his grandmother.
When it finally came the time for the two to separate, Betsey tried making the experience simpler and less painful for Douglass by making it look like nothing was actually happening. He was oblivious of what was happening around him for the entire journey to Colonel Lloyd’s place. He only came back to his senses when he noticed the woods along the way. A group of children indicated their arrival in the afternoon, after what was a long and quite tiresome journey. The grandmother tried urging Douglass to mingle with the other children and play too. After a little reluctance, he then joined the other kids in play. He was so taken away by the play that he was oblivious of his grandmother’s departure. This was the beginning of Douglass’ life as a slave.
As a protagonist, the event was not only a turning point in his life, but also marked a new dimension in the life of Douglass. It exposed him, first-hand, to the realities of slavery. Considering that he was still a child, the experiences would be engraved in his mind forever, as he later came to acknowledge. It was the beginning of his distaste for the whole system of slavery, one that would see him engage in a struggle against it. His first experiences as a slave were quite harsh, as he was the subject of constant abuse from Aunt Katy. Aunt Katy was Lloyd’s chef. She had won the admiration of her master as a result of her industry and discipline. As a result, she had also acquired some substantial degree of authority, as she was in charge of distributing food to all the workers. This gave her a vantage position to even starve Douglass, who would then get so desperate that he ate leftovers with dogs sometimes.
Apart from just starving, Douglass faced a number of challenges as a slave. The cold weather had its fair share of harm, as he suffered from the effects of the cold to an extent that his feet became badly damaged. They developed wide gushes that were very huge and painful. This was not helped by the fact that he had no clothes apart from the sack cloth that reached up to his knees, thereby exposing the remaining part of the legs to frost. He suffered injuries, especially to his knees, since they were exposed. He also recalls of a certain time when his cousin came to seek the help and intervention of one Captain Antony against Plummer, her master. Her appearance was pathetic as she was worn out and hard fresh wounds and bruises; evidence enough of the immense suffering she had endured. Her face was also full of scars and bruises, testament of what she had gone through. She generally looked quite pitiful.
The whole situation however took quite a turn when instead of the captain sympathizing or empathizing with her, told her that she deserved everything that she had gone through. This was made worse by the fact that the captain even ordered her to go back to her overseer. It was a smack in the face, for both the girl and Douglass. Not only shocking but also saddening. Through such harsh and unbearable experiences, his resolve grew stronger. He believed even more, that the fight or struggle against slavery was a valid and worthy cause for him. From his own acknowledgement, he says that the atrocious impacts of slavery afflicted him since he was a young boy of nine, all the way to his adulthood. To a large extent, after the experience of the girl, Douglass swore that he wouldn’t want to live and die a slave, he wouldn’t want to spend the rest of his life as a slave. He had to do something to make a change in his life, and even in that of others who endured the same experiences as him, or even worse.
Time for change however, came earlier, although in a different way to the manner in which he had planned or expected. While still at a tender age of nine, Ms Lucretia informed him of the planned move to her brother in law’s place, Mr. Hugh Auld. This was supposed to be a move to a better place. He was so excited about the news, which he couldn’t wait any longer. He grew impatient but concealed it. His anxiety and excitement made him prepare by cleaning himself up daily. The day soon came and he departed without a second thought or bit of regret. To him, there was nowhere worse than where he was. Any other new environment would be welcome with open arms. He was leaving the plantation, hopefully, for good. Upon arrival at his new place of residence in Baltimore, Douglass was welcomed with open hands by the Aulds.
Things suddenly began looking up for Douglass. At the Aulds, he managed to get is first glimpse of education. It was actually Mrs. Auld who would be the most important person in his life when it came to literacy, as she taught him the alphabet. In this manner he would learn how to read, before then learning on how to write as well. This didn’t go down well with the husband however, who soon got wind of what the wife was trying to do. He stopped the lessons immediately. According to Mr. Auld, educating Douglass would not only make him rebellious, but also liberated from the mental chains of slavery. This would therefore be disadvantageous for them as the slave owners.
In the course of the discussion, Douglass manages to eavesdrop everything that the couple talked about, including the impact of literacy on him as a slave. The experience however, makes him even more determined to pursue further education and means to learn more. He suddenly realized that the whole essence of slavery was due to lack of empowerment, a lack of knowledge that would be the weapon towards mental liberation for all the slaves. Illiteracy was the main weapon being used by these oppressors to ensure that the slaves remained submissive and hence oppressed, according to him. He therefore easily understood that the masters prevented the education of slaves as a result of their reluctance of the impact. They knew it would increase their consciousness and push them towards self-awareness. This was one particular aspect of slavery that Douglass came to understand from his experience with the Aulds. It would turn out to be the most important in his life.
After his stint at the Aulds, he would then move to Mr. Covey. His move to stay with Covey was as a result of a chain of events. His new owner was Mr. Thomas. Douglass used to go visit Mr. Hamilton for food. Mr. Thomas tried everything to stop this behavior to no avail. Even whipping him didn’t yie...