I've decided to answer point six, which concerns how Frederick Douglass portrayed slaveholders, in this narrated piece. One of Douglass's strongest arguments, in my opinion, is that he views slaveowners as being united by the institution of enslavement. Because of this situation, they actually become abominably cruel and sadistic. Fredrick Douglass observes that slaveowners are portrayed in this way in his ideas and writing. For instance, slavery causes Sophia Auld to lose her spiritual integrity. Douglass now highlights how Auld had treated him with decency and kindness. Auld had never, in actuality, possessed slaves in her life. When she becomes one of the victims of the slavery’s institution, the moral bankruptcy of Auld accelerates. As a result, she becomes cruel just like the slaveowner. Evidently, slavery can lead to the dehumanization of both the person who owns the slave and the slave. For example, Auld was already experiencing the deadly venom of reckless power in her hands. In this case, Douglass does not show that slaveowners are the victims lost their souls. Moreover, Edward Covey is presented to be a person who owns the institution of slavery and knows very well all he does. In short, he is a perpetrator of the evil as well as clearly being abusive. He earns the nickname “snake” as sneaking up on slaves.
Auld is likely to be seen as the institution slavery’s victim. Convey, on the other hand, appears cruel in the way he "breaks" and treats slaves. In regard to Douglass, Auld is still part of the problem. In similar fashion, Convey acts as the problem’s embodiment. Here, Douglass can clearly show there are several themes on cruelty's same subject existing within the community of slaveowners. In light of portraying slaveholders, Fredrick Douglass aims at illustrating the horror of slavery. In inherent in his story, there is so much evil that occurs that is not easy to comprehend. Everyone is left wondering the way such wild thing happened in the near past. In this light, Fredrick Douglass does an excellent job to illustrate how the black slaves’ dehumanization by the class of the white ruling fueled the continued brutal practices and the proliferation of slavery.
Naturally, the society would not perpetuate the violence culture necessary for keeping a slave-based economy intact without the black slaves’ dehumanization. In fact, Douglass illustrates the first instance of dehumanization to the readers as the separation of children from their mother. Note that such act of separation was being carried out at a tender age. Frequently, the mother is taken away before the child reaches twelve months. The mother of the child gets hired to a farm that considerable distances off. Women too old for the labor of the field were used to take care of such children. Paraphs, the main reason behind the separation of the child from the mother is to hinder the development of the affection of the child toward its mother. As a result, the natural love of the mother for her child is destroyed and blunt in the process.
Another instance used by Fredrick Douglass for displaying the slaves’ dehumanization is at the point of giving a description of the way slaves are fed. Here, he notes that the food was put in either a large trough or wooden tray before setting it down upon the ground. Just like pigs, the children were then called. These kids would come for the devouring of the mush, some with pieces of shingle, other with oyster-shells. Markedly, some of them simply used their bare hands as there were no spoons. In this scenario, the strongest one gets the best place as the ones who eats fastest get the most food. In reality, just a few of them leaves the trough or tray satisfied.
In his narration, Fredrick Douglass uses the word pigs for the main reason that the owners of the slave failed to deed it necessary for the provision of their slaves with utensils for eating. The slave owners did not see the reason of viewing the slaves as their equal human counterparts. Because slaveholders did not view their slaves as actual human beings, instead they were viewed more like pigs, it was possible for them to show a justification of the culture of violence.
Again, Douglass describes what happens in the jail after failing to escape. Paraphs, the scenario appears one of the best illustration in light of the dehumanization of slaves. He portrays the slave traders and their agents as people that actions cattle and not human beings. They regarded slaves as the commodity that at the right price, they can be bought and sold, instead of the human beings that have same feelings, thoughts, and emotions just like everyone else. According to Fredrick Douglass, there cannot be an existence of slaves without the rest of the society dehumanizing slaves. In this case, the society must first view the object of oppressions as evil and non-human. In conclusion, Douglass plays a pivotal role to give the reader examples of demonstrating exactly how the process of slavery took place in the era of pre-civil war.
Work Cited
"Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself: A New Critical Edition by Angela Y. Davis, Including Her Lectures on Liberation". Choice Reviews Online, vol. 47, no. 11, 2010, pp. 47-6453-47-6453. American Library Association, doi:10.5860/choice.47-6453.
