I thought this piece was moving and very influential for its time and possible remains to be. It is scary what he went through, and impressive that he was able to form any stable personality out of his experiences. It was a very inspiring story, he had one goal to be free and while there were downfalls, and troubling times he managed to regain hope each time and reach his dream. He came out of his experiences wanting to change things rather than runaway, and he was not concerned with what others thought of him. He stated at the end of the chapter that his life and his actions are completely up to the judgment and different views of each person.
I thought that the part about the songs was a really interesting part. How he said, “the songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as aching heart is relieved by its tears.” Not only did the slave owners misunderstand these songs but also the amount of emotion they carried in their words is powerful. Rather than silently crying about their misfortune they sang, or just let out noise as to release what ever was building up inside of them: sorrow, anger, fear or at one point he describes it as the evils of slavery.
I also thought it interesting that there was a sort of hierarchy of slavery. That the state of their owners influenced the slaves, to the extent that they would fight for who had the better owner, as if the greatness of their owner was bestowed upon them. I feel like this was another attempt of the slaves to feel human, they are constantly reinforced that they aren’t human, and in some ways I think they try to overcompensate for this to do anything they can to just feel in some way belonging to humanity. Maybe this is why it was so important for Frederick Douglass to learn to read and write; he wanted to become, and help those become more human and less like property. Then, with this consequence of learning to think, he became more aware of horrid state of things. “Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! I was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented
4 comments:
I agree with you that this piece was inspiring, it's amazing that Douglass was able to be such an influential person later on in life, after dealing with such hardships. It always amazez me when pieces from so long ago stil have an impact on today. I think that's one of the things I like about this class- we take issues and sterotypes of the past and relate them to things that are happening now.
I also found it interesting how the slaves fought over which slave owner was better- clearly non or very few treated their slaves in a way that we would consider "good" now. It's like someone said in class- you can talk bad about your parents but once someone else starts doing it, it's not OK anymore. The slaves too pride in their masters because it's the only thing they had that they could take pride in. It's sad.
I also found the part about the slaves singing very interesting. Thomas Jefferson mentioned these songs but said that he enjoyed listening to them and he knew his slaves were happy when they were singing. And then Douglass comes and gives us the slave interrpretation of these same songs and he says that slaves sing when they are most sad and are feeling at their lowest. Clearly Jefferson really was living in his own world.
I also thought the hierarchy amongst the slaves was interesting and I agree that it's as though the slaves find any way possible to make themselves feel more human in a world that is constantly trying to dehumanize them. I think this is also partly because of basic human needs that white man can not take away no matter how hard they try.
I think what you have said really makes an interesting point. I believe that the slaves also had an interesting relationship with their masters. It is almost like they were trying to be almost as human as possible when it came to their masters. I think this is intersting too though because how many slaves in all honesty would you think would stand up for their masters. I really had no idea that this went on. I also think that it's interesting the different relationships that each master has with the slaves. I think this piece will continue to have an impact on people as they read it each day.
I have to say that I agree with you about all the hardships that he had to endure. I also believe that it is interesting about the different things that happened to him that he didn't care what others though of him even after he began to learn and become a man that new things and became very educated.
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