A Narrative on the life of Fredrick Douglass: Quotes explained, Intended Audience and Author's Purpose

1. “Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger.” pg 18.   Douglass’s thoughts.	When he refers to “her” as his mom, the reader is able to realize the unfamiliarity that Douglass feels toward his mother. Since birth, a slave is made, and in this quote it is explained. Douglass never spent any of his childhood with his mother because the first step to undergo slavery was the removal of any family. Slaveholders believed that by separating families, the system of slavery would thrive without rebellion. If slaves knew their families, they could join in unison to rebel against their masters. However, because they kept them away, it was impossible for families to feel compassion or love for one another’s struggles; like the non-existent feelings you have for someone you do not know. In addition, Douglass added specifically the words tender and soothing presence, to try to create and image of what would have been if she had been in his life, the tender love his mom should have shared with him. The quote signifies the injustices slaves underwent and the ignorant ways  people viewed the ideas of right and wrong.
2. “The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. “ pg.26. Douglass	In Chapter II Douglass emphasizes the use of songs as escapes for slaves. They sing their sorrows away because it is the only way they can release what they are feeling. The Northerns mistake their songs as a sign of happiness, but in their songs they describe the opposite of what they actually feel. It is more deeper in meaning to the slaves because they are expressing everything wrong in their life, but trying dearly to make the best of it; they can’t seem to find a way to do so, so they keep singing, hoping something will change. The slaves themselves do not realize that what they are doing is a plea for help; Douglass himself did not understand. It is only until Douglass leaves slavery that he realizes those songs were not sung in happiness, rather forced to act happy because that was the only way to relieve those sorrows in their hearts. This quote displays the meaning of culture, if one groups shares all the same experiences, traits, ways of life, etc, then there will always be something to bound them together and sometimes you do not know why you do certain things, rather know it is a custom to do it because you know the true meaning of it but are unable to explain why.
3. “ ‘It is better that a dozen slaves suffer under the lash, than that the overseer should be convicted, in the presence of the slaves, of having been at fault. ‘ No matter how innocent a slave might be --- it availed him nothing...” pg 32. Douglass.	The only way to keep slaves in control was to remove the idea of ever being right. Even if a slave had done nothing wrong, the slaveholder’s job was to never feel remorse and punish them anyways. That was the only way slavery made sense. If a slave was ever given any slight bit of hope that they were allowed to be treated with humanity, it would ruin the balance of the social structure. This idea is important because the reason why overseers were so cruel was based on this idea of always having to be right; in order to maintain superiority. If an overseer let himself be wrong, then they would question their ability to treat slaves so inhumanly, which would question the overall system of slavery.
4  4. “ It was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was worth a half-cent to kill a ‘nigger’, and a half-cent to bury one.” pg.35. Douglass thoughts.	This quote illustrates the way slaves were viewed; without any compassion or regard. The whites viewed ‘negroes’ as rather an item that wasted space in their lives. If it were up to them they would dispose of them. This is important to understand because it shows the similarity of evil and  ignorance. Slaves were humans just like the rest of the population and even though the people were too blinded to understand this, it does not make it justifiable because slavery was morally wrong, and in this respect  it borderlines the idea of evil. The concept of removing value in a life is what this quote refers to.  They knew what slaves were, they were people, but chose to act as though they were objects, this is significant because it is an example of the evil that is within ignorance and influence..
5. “The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.” pg.40. Douglass’ thoughts.	Slavery changed the way people were. It manipulated them to turn into completely distinct personas. Douglass used descriptive words to illustrate the corruption of slavery. In this quote Douglass did not specifically mean to single out his mistress rather the entire idea of slavery’s way to manipulate even the most innocent and kind hearted people. It was through the power slaveholders held that corrupted their very idea of morality. There is no way to have unrestrained power and be moral, because power is the biggest evil. This quote is significant  because it explains why there was so much cruelty towards the slaves. The power  given to the whites or any person that owned a slave was unconditional, which meant  there were no restraints in what could and could not be done towards them and because of it, they referred to slaves as their objects in order to justify the maltreatment that was brought up them daily.
6. “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of my thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my conditions that tormented me. There was no getting rid of it.” pg.45. Douglass’ thoughts.	Knowledge was the prime reason slaves wanted freedom, to become enriched with it, however, also had its negative effects. The reason why slaves were such good workers and never questioned their authority was because they were kept ignorant. They did not know what injustices were actually occurring because they knew no other information outside of this wall (slavery). Douglass was outraged when he finally gained the knowledge to understand he deserved better than a life sentence in slavery. He struggled to watch slaves act in complete submission because they did not understand that what was happening to them was inhumane and needed to stop. It is similar to the idea of thinking something to be so right and then you realize that your entire life has been a lie, it is better sometimes for people to live unknowingly stupid because at least they are accustomed and used to it. Knowing too much can sometimes cause harm in the fact that you can no longer succumb to the accustomed way you were used to and now have to face the reality that something must change which causes a never ending self struggle on what to do.
7. “Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever...I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm.” pg. 89. Douglass.	The  moment a slave was given a slight bit of generosity, they took advantage of it. Just like when  Douglass was given a bit of freedom by being allowed to work on his own and have a bit of money, but still have to report back to his master. For those instances in which he got to work alone, he was able to feel free but that freedom slowly came to an end when he realized all the money he made was to go back to his master. Douglass from that instance on realized if he deserved a slight bit of freedom, he deserved complete freedom. This idea is significant because  it illustrates desire, freedom made Douglass feel good and because of it, craved it even more when he felt he was in reach of it. Just like when you crave food and your parents will not buy it, so you fight harder to try to have it.
8. “Prior to his conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty.” pg. 56. Douglass’ thoughts.	It was said that the slaveholders that were most cruel were the ones that were deeply religious. The reason for that was because through religion they were able to use the bible to validate  and  justify their actions of inhumanity. This was significant because it created an irony. It was believed by slaves, that by having a master that is religious, would benefit their treatment, when in reality the masters that were religious were the harshest because with religion they considered their brutality “god’s will.”
9. ”Mr.Covey enjoyed the most unbounded reputation for being a first-rate overseer and negro-breaker. It was of considerable importance to him. That reputation was at stake; and had he sent me --- a boy about sixteen years old-- to z public whipping post , his reputation would have been lost; so, to save his reputation, he suffered me to go unpunished. pg.70. Douglass’ thoughts.	For a slaveholder, the thing of utmost importance was their reputation. Mr.Covey having been known for his abilities as a “negro-breaker”, he was scared to think he could not control a sixteen year old boy. His reputation was the only thing that kept Mr.Covey in a high regard, so by not being able to uphold his name would result in the expulsion of his services which would degrade him in the social structure. So Mr.Covey believed the only way to maintain his position in the social structure was to comply to Douglass’ ways. This was important because it explains how significant it was to have power, a man was willing to give up everything in order to maintain this position; even Covey, being as ruthless as he was, did not choose to punish Douglass because he knew if he did, people would find out he had a weakness and his power would slowly decline.
10. “It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and , as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man.” pg.87 Douglass	The only way to make a perfect slave was to keep him ignorant. By lacking the inability to comprehend what was right and wrong, gave slaves the impression they were designed to be slaves. Slavery was meant to be the only form of education given to “negroes,” because if their entire life revolved around it, it was difficult to be against it. Slaveholders knew to treat their slaves as objects, because if treated like humans, it would grant an entrance into the idea that all men are created equal. This is important to understand because it depicts the way slavery was made. It was not made without a purpose or non acknowledgement of what was wrong with this system. People knew what they were doing when they chose to accept this system of human labor, but chose to act as though it was acceptable. It is the fact people knew slaves were allowed to be treated as equals, but chose to do not allow them to understand for themselves this concept of equality that made them vile.They stripped them of their right to think for themselves, to speak for themselves and to do for themselves and through this the evil within humanity was illustrated.

Intended Audience:      The intended audience is the youth. The diction and sentence structure is reflective of the era the book was written in, in the mid 1800’s. People who are looking for a first-hand perspective of a slaves and hoped to use a reliable source  would read this; especially if they want a more personal perspective of slavery or a source to write  an essay. Also people looking to further their education in U.S history could use this book as a source of enrichment. This is a serious book that promotes serious themes, so people of immature characteristics should not read this book. The reason mature audience is needed is because there are numerous scenes in the book which can be considered unrated and in order to be able to read the book, you must respect the reason why it is significant to the author’s purpose.

Author’s Purpose: Frederick Douglass wrote this narrative, not to inform people of his life story, rather to paint a picture of the daily lives of slaves. He wanted to get through the idea of the horrid ways slaves were treated. He hoped that by writing this story and having people read the cruelty of humanity, it would inspire all to ensure this never happens again. The view of slavery in the eyes of slaves themselves were meant to ignite as sense of hatred for slavery.Through this book, the reader is able to put themselves in the shoes of the slaves and by definition most people do not wish to be part of that world. People need to realize that slavery was a part of history that cannot be removed but can be altered to be a life lesson.  This book was written because Douglass wanted the world to know slavery was an act of evil and must never be repeated in history again.