Nikki Rhodes
Mrs. Ronane
English AP, 1
May 3, 2004
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass the life of a defenseless black man who had just been relieved of his life of slavery and into “freedom” is articulated. All slaves dream of freedom, but they also dream of acceptance, friendships, and even love. Douglass composed an autobiography about his escape and eternal scares as he travels from one hardship to the next. The autobiography uses great detail, diction, and syntax in establishing the harsh reality of Douglass’s life. Although he is now technically free, Douglass lives his life with distrustful acceptance and with hope to have the freedom he has dreamed for so long. The tones of insecurity and loneliness prevail drastically in this piece.
In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Fredrick Douglass illustrates his joyous loneliness. Fredrick Douglass was a man who went from no freedom to absolute loneliness who recorded an autobiography about his life as a slave entering into the blessed gates of freedom. He expresses his newfound freedom as if he were an “unarmed mariner” who was “rescued by a friendly man-of-war from the pursuit of a pirate” (Douglass). Nevertheless, this exhilaration was quickly weakened as the consciousness of seclusion sets in. Do not “Trust [any] man,” for if the wrong one is lurking about, at that moment Douglass was immediately subjected to the terrifying burden of being repossessed to the “legalized kidnappers” (Douglass). This fear became his life and he was converted into a hopeless in his free state. Fredrick Douglass was a lower class resident who went through the journey of slavery; a man whose thoughts of freedom proved them to be far from the fulfillment of his dreams, only to find himself converting from the fear of captivity to the fear and loneliness of his newfound life.
In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the use of diction shows Douglass’s “excitement” from being free from his understanding of the “insecurity” still to prevail (Douglass). At first, he had a “moment of highest excitement” as he “left [his] chains” and arrived in the north state of New York (Douglass). Douglass was ecstatic at the thought of being in the Free States. He was of good cheer and grateful to ultimately grasp his goal. On the other hand, he became very “fearful” at the realization of the “money-loving kidnappers” and “loneliness” still to come (Douglass). Soon after his arrival, it became obvious to him that he no longer could trust anyone, no matter his or her race. One stumbled step or faltering word could send him back to the fugitive life that he had just barely alluded to. Douglass was a slave who darted from one overpowering and threatening life into another free, yet disturbing loneliness that preceded his escape.
Douglass used details to present the two tones of insecurity and loneliness. Douglass describes the “state of mind” he was in and the “highest excitement” he felt when he “succeeded in reaching” the later known as the “sad condition” (Douglass). Words such as “blessed” and “highest excitement” gives the reader a sense of joyousness and worthiness of being in New York. Douglass depicts how he was overcome with delight in knowing that he had effectively ran from the “monsters” that used to control him (Douglass). However, the emotion of fear of “the hideous crocodile” came over him as he saw in himself a “painful situation” of being” in the midst of wild beasts” (Douglass). Douglass renews his concentration from being free from anxiety to being shy around every person that he does not know. This gives the onlooker an ability to understand remotely the fright that Douglass had to encounter day by day. The words “strange land” and “merciless men-hunters” give a most frightful feeling of isolation and despair (Douglass).
The author’s syntax begins with the escape and the arrival in New York. The first few sentences are complete thoughts with no separations, but as the passage goes on, it breaks down more into fragments with dashes to separate them instead of commas or periods. This is done to show how Douglass is getting more upset as he goes on through the piece. The complete thoughts portray Douglass’s thoughts of happiness. The author writes this way to show that Douglass’s life does not follow the hopes and dreams that he thought that it would and it upsets him. His life is more unsteady and upset as the dashes are used more and more. This is backed up in his autobiography as the diction used to describe the slaveholders and strangers get more flowery and frightening. Towards the end, the language continues to be sad and fearful of the outcome. In some ways, the diction is harsh towards those that scared Douglass. Douglass definitely performed some well needed venting of frustration and fear which continued to escalate throughout the piece. Douglass was a victim of a lose-lose situation, but throughout it all, still has an almost hidden glimmer of hope (Douglass).
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , to summarize the autobiography, is a depressing although moving story. The atmosphere throughout the autobiography is described in detail, diction, syntax, and point of view. Douglass was a detainee who went to the North to find a better life. He found freedom his masters in his leaving the South, but on the contrary, did not find the freedom that he was so desperately in search of finding. Douglass, however happy to be away from the forces of the southern white man, is torn from the fear of someday, unwillingly being brought back.