A large section dealing with Douglass’
transition to being able to read really stood out to me, specifically what he
experienced. It begins with “The reading of these documents” then ends at “and
moved in every storm”. (Douglass 84-85) I broke down the passage into five
sections: 1) his understanding of slavery; 2) his newfound anger from this
understanding; 3) the understanding of Master Hugh’s (ironic) words and the hatred
of knowing; 4) the envy of what he was before; 5) his new general view of the
world from this knowledge.
From this, what really stood out to me
were sections 2 and 3. I found it quite tragic that this gift he was fortunate enough
to receive caused him so much pain at first. He writes “that very
discontentment whish Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read
had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish” (84). When
we as children learn something as simple as how to read, I think Douglass’
description is the last thing to come to our minds. Of course, he was a part of
a completely different time. But words like “torment” and “anguish” just struck
me (no doubt well-thought out to make the reader feel exactly this). This
passage not only highlights the things we take for granted, but also the
incredible struggle Douglass went through, as well as perhaps other slaves. It seems
that no matter what happened to them, they never seemed to get a break. It’s truly
heartbreaking, seeing the world as they knew it to be through their eyes.
He continues with “As I writhed under
it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a
blessing” (84). Upon reading this and the lines that follow I thought of Adam
and Eve once they ate the forbidden fruit; they understood everything, and
ended up suffering for it. “It had given me a view of my wretched condition,
without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder
upon which to get out.” (84) He has this knowledge; great, now what? He can’t
do anything with it, not yet at least, and all it has left him is seeing his
situation with more clarity and the ability to express his feelings. I’m sure
that when Master Hugh said “As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great
deal of harm. It would make him discontented and happy” he wasn’t completely referring to what Douglass
ended up going through, but it’s sad how he ended up being right.
Then Douglass points out the frustration
of being able to think for him. “It was this everlasting thinking of my
condition that tormented me.” (84) Knowing nothing but how to be a slave (which
for him was just knowing how to live), and then all of a sudden being able to
understand not only what but also that he didn’t understand. Douglass then
writes “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity.”
(84) However, with the saying “ignorance is bliss” in mind, he wasn’t even
happy when he was ignorant. This passage really shows how miserable life was
for slaves; for Douglass it’s a lose-lose situation, which works to highlight
even more the terrible experience he went through.
Douglass,
Frederick. Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. 1845. New York: Penguin Group, 1986. Print.
I felt that this blog really conveyed key concepts of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the concept that I found most interesting within this Narrative was how Douglass considered his ability to read as a “curse” (84). Though I disagree that with the similarities to the story of Adam and Eve, I felt though that Douglass included in his novel to convey to the reader the struggle that he underwent while being a slave. Douglass ultimately reveals to the reader that his insight to world around him made him feel even more enslaved. He saw that while there is problem with slavery, he cannot do anything to stop it. I also feel that another fascinating concept that Douglass introduced was his transition from a slave to a man. That this point in his was the half way mark through his transition to becoming a man, Douglass reflected upon himself the errors in his action not because they were sins that god told him. But because Douglass was crossed between which ways was best happiest for Douglass. To relate to title of this blog, Ignorance is Bliss, while we discussed that the slaves who didn’t know how to read were not in “Bliss”, I felt that Douglass envied slaves for their lack of knowing the truth, because this connects to another classic saying the truth hurts. Which since Douglass knew the truth of the society he was within, he had suffered more than other slaves, because Douglass saw his potential freedom, where other slaves didn’t see this potential.
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