Dialogue Between A Slave And His Master example essay topic

By: Keri e Schleicher Annotations from Frederick Douglass By far the large part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. [Ch. 1, p. 39.] 'Ignorant' is the key word in this passage. Slaves seemed to be valued because of their ignorance. As long as they followed their master's wishes and didn't raise any questions, they were being "manageable slaves".

Not letting the slaves have their own identities and background made it easier for their masters to control them. It is also interesting how Douglass compares a slave to a horse. It may be upsetting to the reader to see a human treated the same way as a horse. This dehumanizes the slaves in a way. The opinion was also whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion, I know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld from me. [Ch.

1, p. 40.] It was rumored that Captain Anthony was Frederick's father. Clues point to this by the kindness of Captain Anthony's daughter to Frederick or the beatings and rape of Frederick's aunt. In any case, there was no mention of it, especially to Frederick. He was not allowed to have this kind of knowledge.

His master feared that if Frederick knew of his background, he would be deemed useless as a slave. Knowledge was a thing valued by slaves and feared by their masters. To those songs I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. [Ch. 2, p. 47.] Douglass is speaking here of the songs he used to hear on Colonel Lloyd's plantation.

When he was a slave he was more sensitive to this music than any other parts of slavery. They had always filled him with sadness even after he became free. He starts to realize as a young boy after hearing these songs, just how bitter and depressed slavery makes a person. It is at this point where he can first recall slavery as inhumane. (2nd) The slaveholders have been known to send in spies among their slaves, to ascertain their views and feelings in regard to their condition.

(1st) The frequency of this has had the effect to establish among the slaves the maxim, that a still tongue makes a wise head. [Ch. 3, p. 50.] Frederick as well as the other slaves learned some of the horrible tricks the masters could play on them. One example is the way the slaves spend holidays.

The masters like to see the slaves get drunk and act in a very unappealing way. In this way the masters can get the slaves to feel disgust for freedom. The masters may challenge slaves to a drinking contest and deceive them with what they think is freedom. After seeing these tricks played on other slaves, Frederick realizes not to say a word about his master or the treatment he is receiving. This teaches him a lesson in the ways of a slaveholder. He must keep quiet at all times if he doesn't want to be beaten or killed.

Silence is his means of survival. (2nd) 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". (1st) Now, said he, "if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read there would be no keeping him". [Ch.

6, p. 57.] I selected this particular passage because it demonstrates just how much education was feared by the masters. This dialogue is between Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld was trying to teach Frederick to spell. She wasn't yet accustomed to the life of slaveholding. Yet with time she grew cruel just like the others.

It seemed as though slavery was bad for both the slave and the slaveholder. It could make even the kindest person into a cruel master. Once her husband found out he was furious. He felt that if you taught a slave how to spell and read, he would start learning about all kinds of things. He would become dissatisfied with his life as a slave and want something more.

Mr. Auld was exactly right. Literacy was the key to liberating the soul. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty - to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man. [Ch.

6, p. 58.] This was a revelation for Frederick. He had finally realized how the white man could enslave the black man. He had learned that knowledge is power. This is what the white man had over the slave. He now knew how he could become free.

This turning point shows the beginning to Frederick's freedom. After this point he becomes determined to learn how to read. The moral, which I gained from the dialogue, was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder. [Ch. 7, p. 61.] Frederick was reading a book called "The Columbian Orator". One of the parts of the book was a dialogue between a slave and his master.

The slave said some smart and impressive things to his master which led to his emancipation. This made Frederick compare these thoughts to his own life. He got two things from reading this book. The first was a firm opposition to slavery. They allowed him to express his own feelings and opinions.

Yet the more he read, the more he began to hate slavery. He began to see the way it was inhumane. Everyone has certain rights, human rights. You are born with these rights.

It isn't something the government can take away. So what Douglass' master had said came true. The more knowledge he aquired, the more useless he would be as a slave. As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! That very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish.

[Ch. 7, p. 61.] Frederick seemed to have learned more than he wanted to know. His knowledge not only brought him great happiness, but great pain as well. He had read how awful slavery was and how life didn't have to be that way. There was freedom for other men, and Frederick wanted this. This knowledge came with a price.

He was now tormented by slavery and longed to be free. He even says how he envied his fellow slaves for their ignorance. They didn't realize there was more to life out there for them. Some people may say Frederick was not being completely truthful when he wished for ignorance, but I believe him to be telling the truth. There are times in a person's life where they wish they didn't know the things they did.

Sometimes things are better left unknown, and Frederick knew this. The words Frederick used in the passage really appeal to the reader's emotions. Ignorance is bliss, or so Frederick thought. (2nd) I was broken in body, soul, and spirit.

(1st) My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered around my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute. [Ch. 10, p. 74.] Mr. Covey was a well known "nigger breaker". He could transform the most unmanageable slave into a good one. As Mr. Covey tried to tame him, he lost his will for freedom. Instead of dreaming about the day he would be free, he settled for his life of slavery.

He stopped reading and learning at this point in his life. It only caused him more unnecessary pain. He gave up and settled for slavery like his fellow brothers. (2nd) This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave. (1st) It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free. [Ch.

10, p. 78] This passage can really make the reader feel good. It gives the reader hope that things may turn around. Mr. Covey and Frederick have a fight which turned out unexpectedly in Frederick's favor. After this Frederick was never whipped again by Mr. Covey. He realized that any white man who wanted to succeed in whipping him would have to kill him. He may have been a slave physically, but in his heart he was free.

He told me, If I would be happy, I must lay out no plans for the future. [Ch. 11, p. 96.] Again, a reoccurring point in the narrative about the happiness of the slave. Master Thomas claims that if Frederick wants to remain "happy", he should forget about freedom and just realize he will always be a slave. Unfortunately for his master, it was too late for Frederick to go back. He had learned too much.

He had seen the horrors of slavery and knew there was much more for him. I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust. [Ch. 11, p. 99.] What else could Frederick feel after being a slave his entire life? No white man ever gave him a reason to have trust.

There had been nothing but cruel, lying white men surrounding Frederick. As for his won race, he was still suspect. After being told on for trying to escape, he became wary of his fellow slaves. He may have been in a free land, but he had learned the ways of man and knew what he had to do to survive. Word Count: 1636.