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Title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, Shelley Matheis ISBN: 0785795812 Publisher: Bt Bound Pub. Date: 1999 Format: Library Binding List Price(USD): $22.15

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Average Customer Rating: 4.58

Rating: 5
Summary: A Powerful Testimony of An Era We Should Never Forget!
Comment: Slavery was known as a "peculiar institution". By broadcasting such labels for slavery, the southern slave owners were able to downplay the severity of the subjugation of slaves in this "peculiar institution". However, in 1845 a runaway slave by the name of Frederick Douglass was published his narrative which showed the extent of the cruelty within of the oppressive the institution of American slavery. Douglass gives a powerful portrayal of his personal struggle against the tyranny of himself and his fellow slaves. By depicting his personal story regarding the horrors of slavery, Douglass testified to the injustices of the slave institution and conveyed an urgent message of the time for prompt abolition.
Douglass leaves out no detail as he portrays the brutal means in which slaves were forced into subjugation. In order to maintain order and to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity from his slave, an owner used the fear of the ever-present whip against his slaves. Over, and over again throughout the Narrative, Douglass gives account of severe beatings, cruel tortures, and unjust murders of slaves. The message is evident. Slavery dehumanized African Americans.
From the introduction of his early experience, Douglass portrays the burdens of slavery. The reader is forced to cope with the fact that he has no tangible background. Slavery has robbed him of the precious moments of his childhood. He was raised in the same manner as one would raise an animal. In his early years he had no knowledge of time-he did not even know when he was born. He is also forced to scrounge for food in the same fashion as a pig digs for slop. The saddest insight is the alienation of Douglass from his family. He has no connection with his parents and when his mother dies he was untouched. On hearing of her death he states, "I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (19). The bond between mother and child is the strongest bulwark for children and to be robbed of this and to not care demonstrates just how severe slavery was to Douglass and countless others who faced the same fate. In the entire slave experience, the only escape from the repression was through sorrowful singing. As Douglass states, "every tone was a testimony against slavery..." and "slaves sing the most when they are unhappy" (29). Only through music could slaves find comfort in dealing with their anguish.
Douglass's first witness of brutality is the telling of his Aunt Hester's beating. The narration is powerfully effective through terrible detail. The cursing of the overseer, the shrieks of his aunt, and the horrible effects the whip upon her flesh is almost as agonizing the reader of the Narrative as it was to his unfortunate aunt. The fact that this terrible instance is a common occurrence makes it a heavier burden upon the reader's soul.
As if the beatings were not enough, slaves were also murdered on a whim. Douglass tells of Gore, a meticulously cold taskmaster who blew out the brains of a poor slave by the name of Demby. The chilliness of Gore's is terrible due the fact that he kills with the sympathy of a butcher.
Upon hearing about this, one would speculate that the authorities would deal with such barbaric acts justly. However, as Douglass recounts in the story Mrs. Hicks, the murderess that killed a slave girl for not moving fast enough, the law officials were hesitant to enforce the rights of the slave and would intentionally overlook such matters. This is primarily due to the fact that a slave owning society could not allow the rights of the slave to be upheld to the same level as a white man. To do such a thing would threaten the stability of their superiority. This is further illustrated in Douglass's struggle against the shipyard workers, when he fled to his master and told him of the attack his master stated that he could not hold up Douglass or even a thousand blacks testimony. The lack of protection under the law and the unwillingness of the whites to give the slaves a voice allowed the whites to completely dominate the slaves without the fear of accountability for their actions.
The worst aspect of slavery is found in the religious nature of the subjugation of slaves. The cruelty found in slavery was even more intense when placed under the pretense of the slaveholding religion of Christianity. Through Douglass's deconstruction of Christianity, he learns that the white oppressive version of Christianity is much different from his own beliefs of Christianity. The incident that shaped Douglass's understanding of the mentality of religious slaveholders was when he was placed under the authority of Mr. Freeland. In this situation, he was able to see the difference between the so-called "religious slave-holders" and "non-religious slave-holders." Douglass felt that the "non-religious slave-holders" were less brutal because they did not reprimand their slaves based on a Divine command. Instead they were more concerned about reprimanding the slaves when the slaves did wrong as opposed to whenever they felt that the Lord professed a beating.
The Narrative and Selected Writings is a powerful testimony to the struggles American slaves faced. Through the writings of men such as Frederick Douglass, abolitionists were given fuel to the bonfire of the Abolition Movement. Douglass honest testimony helped to bring out the truth about slavery. Abolitionists now had evidence to back their claim that the "peculiar institution" was in fact an institution of evil.

Rating: 5
Summary: Applicable even today
Comment: In his work Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Frederick Douglass outlines his purpose in writing the piece:

"Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds - faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts - and solemnly pledging my self anew to the sacred cause."

Certainly Douglass' "little" book shed tremendous light on the slave system that existed in early American history and he successfully accomplished his purpose. The description of how slaves were treated was interesting and enlightening, and provokes compassion in the reader. Additionally, Douglass wonderfully explores the issue of knowledge and power, as he describes the many occasions in which slaveholders tried to keep slaves from learning to read. Finally, Douglass raises a concern about the hypocrisy among southern Christians based on the way that they treat slaves. True Christians treat all humans with love, respect, compassion, and indiscriminately. This final point raises a relevant issue in today's society - does this hypocrisy still exist?

Several statistics indicate that although the problem that Douglass addresses is not as drastic, it still remains a serious challenge that the United States must wrestle: 16.2 percent of American children are living in poverty (United States Census); 54 percent of African American families say underachievement among black students represents a "crisis," 33 percent of white parents agree (Public Agenda); 10.8 million children in the United States have no health insurance; 1 in 4 Hispanic children are uninsured; 1 in 11 Caucasian children are uninsured (Children's Defense Fund); 3/4 of teachers in public schools do not believe that schools should expect the same from students in low-income areas as students in high-income areas (Education Watch); in recent years income has decreased in the bottom, second, and middle 20% sectors, while increasing slightly in the fourth sector and substantially in the top sector (United States Census). . If American Christians were truly loving and sharing like Jesus teaches, the social stratification that is prevalent in the United States would not be nearly as extreme. The Christian Church should not allow such tremendous economic and educational differences. Although this is not nearly as glaring a problem as slavery, Douglass' narrative is applicable even to today's social problems and is well worth the read for that and many other reasons.

Rating: 5
Summary: A honest look at slavery
Comment: Perhaps more so than any other account, Douglass gives us a look into the life of a slave. I enjoy this book on many level. Douglass writes honestly and in a factual tone. He does mince his words when he describes the brutality of slavery. Douglass demonstrates that he is an intelligent man despite his lack of education. He taight himself to read. To our youth, this demonstrates the value of education. Douglass also show Americans manipulated the work of God even in his time. Yet, Douglass found strength in that God. I think the quality I enjoyed most about this book is the fact that Douglass does not see himself as a hero, but as an average slave. This is not a typical characteristic of an autobiography. I read this book for the second time coming and going on 3 hour flights. The book is a short read, but well worth your time to read of atriumph of the human spirit.