Chapter X

So much that happens and there is a lot to unpack in chapter 10. During this chapter, I began to see this overarching theme of hope. At the beginning of the chapter, Douglass loses his hope when he goes to stay with Mr.Covey who I think was Douglass’s most violent and cruel master. During the first six month of staying with Mr. Covey, Douglass reaches one of his lowest points. Douglass writes, “The cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died” (Douglass 38). Douglass no longer desires independence and he has lost his hope. On Douglass’s way back to Mr.Covey after a failed attempt to get help from his master, Sandy Jerkins, a fellow slave, tells him about a root that can prevent a white man from whipping him. Douglass finds this root and it seems to work until the second day of his return when Mr.Covey grabs him and attempts to tie Douglass up. However, this time Douglass decides to fight back and he resists Mr.Covey’s attempt to beat him. I wonder what exactly made Douglass finally stand up for himself and fight back against Mr.Covey. I also thought it was really interesting how this violent incident between Douglass and Mr.Covey serves as a major turning point for Douglass and ultimately helps him regain his hope and freedom seeking spirit. Douglass states, “My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place” (43). After his year with Mr.Covey, Douglass goes to live with Mr.Freedman who is a much more benevolent master in comparison to Mr.Covey. During this time, Douglass builds strong relationships with some of the fellow slaves and his desire for freedom grows. Douglass tried to teach some of the fellow slaves how to read and he and some of the other slaves even plan an escape. The plan ultimately fails and Douglass is separated from his peers and sent back to Baltimore to work for Master Hugh. During this time Douglass starts to earn wages, however he is forced to turn it all over to Master Hugh. Douglass is extremely bothered by how he has to give his rightly earned money to Master Hugh and he starts to become more aware of the injustices of slavery. I thought it was really interesting how every improvement in Douglass’s condition would increase his desire for freedom rather than making him feel more content. Also, whenever Douglass's condition worsened, his desire for freedom decreased.

Chapters VI-IX

     Just like the last group of chapters, tonight's reading sparked various emotions; sadness, anger, and guilt. Hearing these first-hand accounts of the cruel nature of slavery feels more eye-opening than anything else. It is a completely different feeling reading what occurred in a textbook versus reading a specific man's story. There were two topics specifically that stood out to me in these chapters, one of which being the power of education, and the other being hope. 

Preventing slaves from being able to read and write is another very calculated way that slaveowners used to make slaves feel inferior and preserve the institution of slavery. His master Mr. Auld telling his wife that, "it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read," (20) stuck with me. The lack of knowledge the slaves had made them subservient to their masters and even the idea of an educated slave threatened the master's superiority. It also hurt me when he talked about how being educated almost felt like a curse instead of a blessing. It is horrible that being exposed to the reality of his situation because of his new ability to read made life even more hopeless for Douglass. 

The presence of hope and the lack thereof is another idea that struck me during the reading. It seems as though every time he gets a sense of hope, it is then crushed. Specifically, when reading about his fondness for his new mistress, I was hopeful that she would be an ally for him. Instead, his sense of hope was crushed as she became even crueler than her husband. This trend continues throughout the reading as every time things seemed to be looking up for Douglass, that hope was eventually shattered. But despite his hope continuously being shattered, he manages to hold on to the hope of one day escaping. He knows the likelihood hood is very low but refuses to be a "slave for life". I am interested in knowing how his road to escaping unfolds as the story continues.

His first-hand accounts show just how bleak the life of a slave was. As I read I keep thinking back to that point made in the preface that his story shows the life of just the average slave and does not even compare to the majority of slaves' stories. I am so shocked and mortified hearing Douglass's accounts. I can't even imagine what other's stories are like and what the cruelest masters must have done to their slaves. 

Preface and Chapter I-V

9/16/2021

    The gruesomeness and graphic scenes in the first five chapters really threw me off when beginning to read this narrative. I wasn't aware that this book was going to articulate such graphic scenes, and it makes me sick to my stomach to read about what Douglass and the slaves surrounding him went through. While this narrative does display such graphic scenes, I am glad to have the opportunity to read this book and think that its contents are valuable lessons to learn from. 

    In particular, the scene of Mr. Gore and Demby upset me. On page 14, there is a scene of the cruel Mr. Gore shooting an innocent slave after refusing to leave a creek. Mr. Gore shoots Demby without hesitation, which shows not only his but also other slave owners' lack of care and respect for human life. Douglass illustrates that Mr. Gore shot Demby without an additional call or any hesitation, which highlights how little slaves' lives mattered during the era of slavery. They were viewed as less than human, and this real-life account from Douglass displays this idea perfectly. Furthermore, this shows Demby's willingness to give up after a hard life of enslavement. Rather than choosing to live another day in his sad existence, he chose death as the better option. He felt that there was so little hope in his life that death and giving up was a better choice, and sadly this was a reality for many other slaves across the country and throughout the world. 

    This sense of hopelessness saddens me that slavery was a reality in our country, but there are valuable lessons that can be learned from reading narratives like this one and I look forward to becoming more educated on first hand accounts of slavery. 

- Zoe Krumwiede