Vanesa Bravo

October 18, 2018

American Literature
Douglass Theme Essay

During the 1800s, discrimination and slavery was very common especially in the south. Many
African Americans were forced into slavery and were tortured like Frederick Douglass. He was an
American slave who lived in fear throughout his entire life until he finally escaped in his second attempt
and made it to the North. Douglass was the author of, ​Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ​which
he shared his first-hand experience of being under the control of white slave masters. White people
assumed they were superior and believed it was necessary to have people of color doing dirty work, being
treated like animals, and basically having no freedom.
Frederick Douglass believes equality doesn’t exist due to beliefs of superiority. He reveals this message
through his use of characterization with Ms. Auld and using descriptive diction on the treatment of slaves.
Frederick Douglass captures the theme of equality through his use of characterization by
describing those he met throughout his journey of slavery and how they had an impact on the lack of
equality. After his departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation, he meets a lady, Ms. Auld, who he
describes as “a women of the kindest heart and finest feelings…” (Douglass 30). He first introduces her as
a very loving and wise white women because she’s never owned any slaves under her power unlike her
husband. Douglass continues to describe her like a goddess but then he stops and takes a turn by stating
“But, alas! This kind heart had but a short time to remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power
was already in her hands, and gradually commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the
influence of slavery, eventually became red with anger…” (30). In other words, all her positive traits gets
demolished by the fact that she works with her husband in slavery. Slavemasters believe that they are in
higher power than African Americans which is why they treat them like puppets.
Frederick Douglass portrays the unjustified treatment with using detailed diction to vividly show
how slaves were being tortured by white men. Douglass tends to use repetition and specific word choice
to get his message of inequality across. He states, “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and
where the blood ran faster, there he whipped the longest. He would whip her to make her scream and
whip her to make her hus; and not unit overcome by fatigue, would he cease to seeing the blood-clotted
cowskin” (15). He repeats the word, “whip” to show one way that their masters would torture and hurt
their slaves. The details he gives when sharing this view are very descriptive which brings out emotional
vibes to the audience because you can feel the pain they went through and also picture it so graphically.
White slaveholders
In conclusion, Douglass’s beliefs for equality and fair treatment for everyone will be difficult to
accomplish due to the fact that he is considered to be in lower class than white men who believe to have
power over all the people. Unfortunately, inequality and the sense of being superior is still an issue today
and will continue because Donald Trump, president of the United States, is attempting to build a wall that
separates Mexico and America to prevent immigrants from crossing the border and entering the U.S..
Trump comes to the conclusion that immigrants, specifically Mexicans, are inferior and ruin the
reputation of many Americans which is why he wants to limit the population of migrants by
discriminating them.