Writers Taking Risk, Essay Example

Introduction

Frederick Douglass has been recognized as one the most smart, intelligent and prolific writers on any era. Frederick Douglas was born as a slave in 1817 in the state of Maryland. He escaped slavery to flee to freedom in New Bedford, Massachusetts for a better life and opportunities to prosper. His ambitions and abilities to speak led him to the conventions in Massachusetts that allow him to hone his orator skills. Frederick Douglas was African American that had many talents such as orator, literary writer, statesman, and social reformer. As an ex-slave Frederick Douglas rose through the ranks to become an abolitionist fighting against the atrocities of slavery. However, among all his accolades in the business, political, social, and educational fronts, he was best known for being a writer. Frederick Douglas poured out his feelings in front of the entire world sharing the slavery experience in several books. These experiences became known around the world because of his explicit writings about slavery.

Frederick Douglas live a life of risk in the South. He was faced with risk every day of his life while dealing with death, maiming, beatings, whippings or being crippled for trying to escape slavery. His literary journey was a risk because he was exposing slavery in explicit details that had not been described with such horrible details. Frederick Douglass very first autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave that was published in 1845. This book was a major risk because Frederick Douglas was exposing himself as the author risking physical harm or even death. In addition, it was a risk to admit to being the author of this book because white skeptics tried to label him as a fraud. The white antagonist would not believe that an African-American could write such an eloquent literary works. This book went on to achieve national praise and recognition as a bestseller. This book was translated all over the world including Dutch, French and in Europe. This type of exposure was a major risk to Frederick Douglas life.

Summary  

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was written with a distinctive rhythm and pace using the slavery language to clear depict the events as real. One of the quotes from the novel” I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of the land” (Goodreads, 2013). Douglas expressed his disdain for people who own slaves, degrade, and harm women while wearing two faces of Christianity and the other face as the devil. The writings of Douglas was metaphoric with a hint of biblical connotations that made his readers experience spirituality, human feelings, and personal experiences as if they were with him as a child in slavery. The writing seeps into your soul and creeps upon our humanity and indignity of slavery. Frederick Douglass could have explain the way he lived in a move horrific manner but his writings wins over supports of the abolitionist cause but tugs at human beings soul with words”. Douglas writing has a way of making the reader identify with their own mother, father, child, or sibling.

Douglas wrote the novels to show the world how it was to be a slave. His personal and detail writing was able to reach the mind of the reader through the experience of a child in slavery and adult that ran away from it. The innocents of his writing allow the reader to let down their guard because the horrors were not as horrific but just enough for them to image the conditions. His burning hatred for slavery and living through the life of a slave gave him the strength and vision to write even if it cost him his life. It was his thirst for freedom that told the story as a child and adult that almost relived the experience taking the reader along with for the journey. He took risk by expressing his inner feelings about slavery but his journey was written with elegance.

Critique Analysis

Frederick Douglas wrote about risk in his books including personal information and detailed information that was risky to expose to the South. The Southerners were not happy about Frederick Douglas writing about their cruel acts of slavery in such detail. Frederick Douglas wrote about being a slave and the conflicting messages in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: “The slave prison and the church stand near each other. The clanking of fetters and the rattling of chains in the prison, and the pious psalm and solemn prayer in the church, may be heard at the same time” (Goodreads, 2013). In these paragraphs Douglass exposing how the oppressors would sing the gospel praising God and at the same time caging slaves like animals in chains. The metaphoric writing touch the hearts and minds of people all over the world because of his ability to write about something so vicious but with dignity and class. The satire could have been some totally dark that the reader would have stop reading his novels. However, the Frederick Douglas has the ability to choose words to describe the most horrific acts but with an almost bible like meaning” The slave auctioneer’s bell and the church-going bell chime in with each other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the religious shouts of his pious master”(Goodreads,2013)

Risk

Frederick writing always too risk with dramatic and explicit writing that included detailed depictions of slavery violence, social and political statements. This was a fascinating twist in literary words used by Frederic Douglas. He was great at allowing the reader to hear the church music in key with the clanking of the slave’s chains. Frederick Douglas had a talented that was overlook which the ability to make the readers experience so real that the reader would weep. This was a true risk because the writing can become some graphical in description that the readers will not complete the reading of the book. Many times when society is forced to look at the reality of how we treat human beings will have the opposite reaction of rejecting the readings by Frederick Douglas. His writings could been label or considered vulgar and unmoral writing attacking the writing style. However, he was writing from real incidents and not fiction.

Frederick Douglass writing about the violence in detail was a risk because readers sometimes internalize the horror they read. They become uncomfortable with reading about evil or violence that might suggest something about themselves. The personal risk was providing so much detail about his mother and family members that the slave owners could easily identify his blood line. To appear to be an orphan or a bastard in real life is hard enough. He writing was sharing intimate moments about his feelings of never knowing who his father was. Frederick Douglass had a metaphorical delivery of his writing that was able to suggest different meanings in just a few literary words. This was from a verse from his novel Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave about his father “The whisper that my master was my father, may, or may not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little consequence to my purpose whilst the fact remains” (Douglas, 1845). This was risky for Douglass to show so much of himself in slavery. It was a bold way to write that overcame the entire nation with this type of metaphoric literature that was true.

Strengths

To explore the depth of one’s own soul then allow others to see is true strength in writing. The writing style of Frederick Douglas was with a pace that allowed the reader to feel his journey or pain. The pain of ones separation from our mother could be brutal to read and hard for the reader to feel good about reading such a loss. However, one of Frederick Douglas strengths was writing in parables and metaphors that explain the event. This was from his novel Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave “(Douglass, 1845). She died when I was about seven years old, on one of my master’s farms, near Lee’s Mill. I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial”. This passage is so powerful that is leaves the reader with thought of never being able to spend time with their own mother and not allowed to ever say goodbye. These few lines describes love, pain, loathing, death, life, betrayal all in a few lines.

Chapter 1

In Chapter 1 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglas writes about his Aunt Hester as she is beaten with cow skin naked in the kitchen. In addition, descriptions of the sexual exploits of her master along with friends to humiliate Aunt Hester. This was a powerful chapter because Douglas writing styles of cadence and structure of the sentences slowly draw the reader into the event as if they were in the kitchen with the aunt. Douglass writes with suggestion clues that almost makes the reader feel the blood dripping down the back of Aunt Hester who still maintained her dignity. He descriptive writing combines with trigger words smell of leather, cow skin belt, or blood cuddling screams all bring the reader into that room.

Chapter 6

This chapter describes the genius in Frederick Douglass writing style. One can imagine the cold, dark winter without clothes, shoes, or shelter. A child lying in the dirt like a pig or dog without one thought of the innocents of a child and the cruelty of a human being to neglect a toddler or young child. However, Frederick Douglas would write in musical cadence that shared the experience but depicted the inhumane conditions but with strength. In chapter 6”, in the hottest summer and coldest winter, I was kept almost naked—no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees” (Douglass, 1845). In these few sentences his writing style was descriptive in such a way that it was almost apologetic in nature.

Chapter 10

Frederick Douglass writing was brilliant at sharing a horror of slavery with a cool glass of tea. The idea of a slave owner buying one slave as a breeder to develop a nation of slaves with one or two women is an awful thing to even admit to your own family. Frederick Douglas writing with dignity but truth to make others see the wrong in slavery. In this passage explains how it was an everyday of life for a poor farmer to have a slave breeder: “The facts in the case are these: Mr. Covey was a poor man; he was just commencing in life; he was only able to buy one slave; and, shocking as is the fact, he bought her, as he said, for a breeder. This woman was named Caroline. She was a large, able-bodied woman, about twenty years old. She had already given birth to one child, which proved her just what he wanted” (Douglass, 1845).

Evaluation

Overall Frederick Douglas writings were like a musical orchestra playing music that others could not afford not to listen. He wrote in a style that was so honest and open but only to describe these slavery horrors with pride, dignity, and respect. The writing was so prophetic that is made people look at themselves in the mirror because they allow these horrors to happen to men, women, and little children.

References

Douglass, F. (1845). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.Boston, MA: Sterling Pub Co Inc.

Goodreads. (2013). Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass quotes. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1990110-narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass