The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The Formation of Ident

The storey of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave details the progression of a knuckle down to a humankind, and thus, the formation of his indistinguishability. The narrative functions as a persuasive essay, scripted in the hopes that it would successfully lead to hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of his brethren in bonds (Douglass 331). As an institution, slavery endeavored to reduce the men, women, and children in bonds to a state slight than human. The slave identity, according to the institution of slavery, was not to be that of a rational, self-importance forming, equal human being, merely rather, a human wight whose object is to work and obey the whims of their master. For these reasons, Douglass articulates a distinction between the terms man and slaves under the institution of slavery. In his narrative, Douglass describes the situations and conditions that portray the differences between the two terms. Douglass in any case depicts t he progression he makes from internalizing the slaveholder viewpoints ab come to the fore what his identity should be to creating an identity of his own making. Thus, Douglass narrative depicts not simply a search for freedom, but also a search for himself through the abandonment of the slave/animal identity forced upon him by the institution of slavery.The reader is first introduced to the motif of Douglasss formation of identity outside the constraints of slavery before he or she even begins reading the narrative. By viewing the title varlet and reading the words The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, written by himself the reader sees the advancement Douglass made from a dependent slave to an unconditional author (Stone 134). As a slave, he was forbidden a phonate with which he might speak out against slavery. Furthermore, the traditional roles of slavery would start had him noncivilisedunable to read and incapable of piece. However, by examinin g the full convey of the title page, the reader is introduced to Douglasss refusal to adhere to the slave role of uneducated and voiceless. Thus, even before reading the work, the reader knows that Douglass will show how a slave was made a man through speaking outthe symbolic act of self-definition (Stone 135).In the first chapter of the narrative, Douglass introduces the comparison between slaves and animals, writing that the larger... ...details the transformation of a slave to a man. The institution of slavery delimitate a slave as less than human, and in order to bear on that impression, slaveholders forbade slaves the luxury of self definition. Therefore, when Douglass finally rejects the notions about his identity forced on him by slavery, and embraces an identity of his own creation, he has completed his journey from slave to man. He no longer defines himself in terms of the institution of slavery, but by his own thoughts regarding what his identity is. Through the metamo rphosis of his identity as an animal to an author who fights for the abolitionist movement, Douglass presents his narrative not simply as a search for freedom, but also a search for himself.It is easier to advance strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglass Works CitedDouglass, Frederick. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The simple Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York Penguin Group, 1987. Stone, Albert. Identity and subterfuge in Frederick Douglasss Narrative. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Volume 7. Ed. Paula Kepos. Detroit Gale investigate Inc., 1990. 134-137.