Analysis Of The Story "How I Learned To Read And Write" By Fredrick Douglass
In the Story of How I learned to read and write by Fredrick Douglass, Douglass talks about what it means to be a slave that has been bestowed the gift but also the curse of knowledge. In this story Douglass uses pathos to allow the reader to understand him better as well as the hardships he had to go through in order to gain the knowledge he now possesses. Douglass also talks about how he sometimes wishes he didn’t have the knowledge he now has because it brought forth a lot of emotions inside of him that he did not want to feel.
Fredrick Douglass was a slave when he first began his studies to learn how to read and write. He was at first being taught by his mistress who would give him lessons to read and write. At first the lessons were going well until her husband told her not to teach him anymore because he is a slave, and slaves have no need to learn how to read or write. This was very common among the slave holders because if they were to be taught then they would start neglecting their duties as slaves and would start pursuing knowledge rather than the manual labor they were meant to do. I believe this to be the reason why his master forbids his wife to continue her lessons with Douglass. Douglass’s master was afraid that if Douglass began learning to read and write than he too would want to become something more than just a common slave in the south. At first the wife did not agree with her husband and continued her teachings with Douglass. Douglass describer her as a woman who was a kind and tender woman who did not want to leave Douglass in “Mental Darkness”. She was a woman who believed that everyone should be equal, she always had bread for the hungry, clothes for the cloth less. However, this way of thinking is something that a slave owner should not have because they will be ridiculed by the others and it will only cause a great amount of pain and suffering. Soon however she began to change into this icy cold and bitter woman. It started slowly, at first, she simply stopped instructing him, however soon after that she would take away any readings that Douglass might posses in his hands. Douglass described the time that he was reading a newspaper, that he had never seen rush forth with such speed to snatch the newspaper right out of his hand with a cruel look on her face when she did so. However, in Douglass’s mind she was but to late because her first mistake was teaching him the alphabet, because know in his mind nothing would stop him from continuing his education.
Douglass came up with a very elaborate plan in order to continue his studies without his masters knowing. Douglass decided to become friends with as many white boys as he could find in order to turn them into teachers. Douglass began teaching them and in return Douglass succeeded in teaching himself to read. Douglass would always take a book with him whenever he ran errands so he could continue his studies while he maintained his job as a slave. Sometimes he would take as much bread as he could handle and he would end up trading his bread for the knowledge that he could not gain on his own. Throughout this little story of how he furthered his education Douglass wanted to tell us the names of the boys who he helped who in turn helped him. Unfortunately, Douglass did not state their names because it was a huge offense to educate a slave in the ways of the common white people.
Douglass would sometimes say to the children that he wished that he was as free as them. He said that once they turn twenty-one that they would be free, and that Douglass would be a slave for life. This really hits us as the reader because we can’t help but feel sorry for Douglass because what he speaks of is the truth, that even if he were to be the most educated man in the world because of his color and his background, he would always remain a slave. Not only did these words affect us, but they also affected the other children. They couldn’t help but sympathize with Douglass and try to offer hope that something might occur that would allow Douglass to become just as free as them someday. This soon began to weigh heavily on Douglass even when he became a twelve-year-old boy. It was soon after that these thoughts started to weigh on him that he received a book called The Columbian Orator. The book was about a slave and master relationship. The slave ran away three different times and on the third attempt the master had a discussion with the slave. The slave said some very intellectual things to his master which had the desired effect that the slave sought. At the end the slave and master agreed to a voluntary emancipation. All of this shows how Douglass uses Pathos in his talk about education and the slave master relationship. In all of Douglass’s examples he tried demonstrating his feelings to not only the readers but to the people in his surroundings as well. The reason he did this was so we as the reader can understand his thought process as well as to his reasonings behind what he did. Because of this, Douglass is effective as a rhetor because his emotions are clearly shown on the pages as well as in our minds. This goes to show just how much emotion can change as well as impact one’s life. Douglass shows further pathos in his story, when he goes to inform African Americans the importance of education as well as intellect. He goes to show this by using a very empathetic tone, imagery, as well as certain vocabulary in his reading. Douglass discusses how he resorted to various stratagems, and after a tedious amount of years later was able to read. These thoughts he is sharing with us make us realize just how difficult it was for him and he states that he had to go through as well as overcome many trials in order to achieve the level of literacy he intended. This shows us as well as other African Americans, that is important to never give up, as well as the fact that if you never give up than the dreams you thought were impossible could someday turn into reality. Whether its you wish to read and write or something even more ambitious like becoming a free man, on equal terms with their fellow slave holders/ common white folk.
The second audience that Douglass is addressing with pathos is that of the slave holders and the common white folk. The best way to get the second audience to understand and to actually pay attention to what he is saying, “Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly loyalties”. (96) This goes to show the negative effects of slavery on not only African Americans but on his second audience. Douglass probably used this quote to show the African Americans that they are not the only ones affected by slavery, but their masters are affected as well. Some masters change from a very loving, caring, happy master, to a hateful, bickering master with no regard for their African American slaves. This draws in his second audience in the hope that they become more aware of the negative effect’s slavery is having on both the slave as well as the master relationship. It shows how slavery is similar to that of a disease that can corrupt even the most passionate of people and turn them into being with no emotions or signs or remorse. Douglass also shows us the device logos in this reading from beginning to end. Douglass opens his reading by telling us how long he lived at his master’s house (seven years), and in this time was able to teach himself how to read and write. Douglass then goes on to describe how his mistress changed from a nice, caring, and loving lady to a mean-spirited one who showed no signs of remorse for ger actions towards Douglass. Douglas explains how her sudden mood shift from a caring, loving woman into a hateful mean-spirited one made it hard for him to read because she would always get angry whenever she would see him holding a book. There was a time when she got so angry that she immediately snatched from his hands in a matter of seconds. Douglass then further describes how he would become friends with the poor white kids so that they would help him learn how to read without them being fully aware.
Once he has learned to read, he starts to understand more of what is going on around him and he doesn’t like it. He begins to envy the ignorance of his fellow slaves. He meets two white men who encourage him to run away to the north to be free. Frederick considers it, but he wants to learn how to write first. He concludes his story of how he learned to read and write by describing how he learned to write by being in a ship-yard as well as daring the white kids in the neighborhood that he knew more letters than them, which tricked them into teaching him more letters, furthering his knowledge. This just goes to show how he used the device logos as well as his cunning intellect to further his education without receiving any punishment from anyone at the time.
Douglass has an automatic sense of credibility/ethos since this is a reading from his very own life experiences. Douglass also uses the device ethos when he started to think logically by learning to read. The more he learned, the more he was further building his character to get what he wanted in order to increase his arsenal of knowledge. We also see Douglass furthering his sense of character by choosing not to run away when the white men told him too. Douglass knew that there was a possibility of them tricking him to run away just so they can catch him and get an award. He decided to instead of runaway, Douglass chose to take this opportunity to learn to write before he would run away. A great example that shows his credibility/ethos is when he states where he came from. “I lived in Master High’s family about seven years.” This shows us that he is just like any other slave, the only difference is that he did not wish to stay in the social norm of a slave, thus he concluded that he would educate himself to surpass the norm that was bestowed upon him. This grabs the attention of us as readers as well as his different audiences and makes him credible as an author as well as trustworthy. In conclusion Douglass is an author that shows all three rhetorical devices Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Douglass shows this by addressing the slave master relationship, his very own life experiences which guided us through all of his hardships and difficult obstacles that he had to overcome. These hardships and obstacles also show his emotions and thoughts throughout the entire paper. Whether it was happiness, anger, or sadness that came with the knowledge that he now possesses. If it wasn’t for all of the hardships that he had to overcome, then he would not be the same person we all know and care for. Douglass would probably never have achieved the level of knowledge that he was trying to gain because no matter how hard the obstacle may be, Douglass always found a way to surpass it and gain new knowledge to further his arsenal.
