Tuesday, 28 September 2004: Frederick Douglass, 1814-1880 (Narrative of the Life . . . + opening of “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1881-82)

Reader: Tina Pequeno

Objective 2: To study the movement of “Romanticism,” the narrative genre of “romance,” and the related styles of the “gothic” and “the sublime.”

Summary: Douglass’ narrative exhibits elements of “Romantic” genre, and he uses “Gothic” elements to describe the cruelty of slavery. Through the use of powerful and moving language, he familiarizes the reader with the unending abuses of slavery. Douglass illustrates the desperate need of black slaves to be rescued from the white slave holders, and depicts the slaves desire for freedom from their oppressors. Furthermore, Douglass himself is on a “physical journey” or “personal transformation.” He begins life as an uneducated slave with little hope for the future, but by “divine providence” he is sent to Baltimore where he acquires the basic tools to educate himself. Through Douglass’ persistence he endures the hardships of enslavement, overcomes enormous obstacles, and ultimately escapes the chains of slavery.

Quotes: (personal transformation)

1837 “Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity . I have ever regarded it as the first plain manifestation of that kind providence which has ever since attended me, and marked my life with so many favors.”

1838 “From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed [not] from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom. This good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise.

1839 “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty – to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.”

1856 “It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact.”

(Gothic)

1826 “It was the bloodstained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass.”

1852 “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me, and behold a man transformed into a brute.”

1869 “Let him be left to feel his way in the dark ; let darkness commensurate with his crime hover over him; and let him feel that at every step he takes, in pursuit of the flying bondman, he is running the frightful risk of having his hot brains dashed out by an invisible agency.”

Question 1: How does Douglass’ learning to read influence his “personal transformation?”

Question 2: How does Douglass’ use of the “gothic” depict slavery, and what differences are evident between slave life on the plantation or in the city?