Fredrick Douglass Ch. 3

[OliviaPasserini]

Purpose: The purpose of this chapter was to explain the rules and etiquette of being a slave. This chapter explains what slaves would need to do to survive and to not be sold.

[sian.barry]

Personification/Irony:

Douglass recounts a story of a slave who thoughtlessly spoke unfavorably about his master Colonel Lloyd, narrating upon the slave's resulting punishment: "... and thus, without a moments warning, he was snatched away and forever sundered, from his family and friends, by a hand more unrelenting than death" (253). In this excerpt, slavery is portrayed to be worse than death when it is personified by the narrator, as he indicates to the fact that it is an endless series of unremitting evils. Douglass suggests that the concept of slavery has human qualities in depicting it as having hands that were separating the slaves from the people around them in a wicked manor. Single-handedly, slavery could destroy any chance that a black man had to be human, which is also ironic because while Douglass humanizes the idea of slavery, slavery was responsible for dehumanizing black people. This furthers his purpose because in his quote, he warns slaves how to avoid situations that could get them sold, but also alludes to the fact that on the whole, enslavement has evils that are comparably worse than being deceased.

[isabella.cuan]

Allusion

"To describe the wealth of Colonel Lloyd would be almost equal to describing the riches of Job." 

Douglass uses a biblical reference, alluding to Job from the Book of Job in the Hebrew bible, to convince Northern readers to side with abolition, engendering anger among those with wealth disparities. The Book of Job relates the story of Job, a wealthy man living in a land called Uz with his large family and extensive flocks. He is "blameless" and "upright" in the eyes of God, but Satan appears before God one day arguing that Job is only good because God has blessed him abundantly. Ultimately comparing Colonel Lloyd to Job, Douglass gives more meaning to his message as well as insight into Colonel Lloyd's character. Through this parallel, Douglass, in a subtle manner, addresses a controversial matter with this statement regarding Lloyd's wealth: Does he deserve it despite his treatment of the slaves? God eventually doubles Job's profits, and thus, Lloyd's wealth is further characterized as that much more abundant than what a reader would normally presume if the sentence lacked a biblical reference. 

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012 11:52:43 AM UTC-4, OliviaPasserini wrote:

[mdsaba1126]

Irony

 

In order to describe the so-called rules of being a slave, Douglass made use of the quote from page 253, “It is partly in consequence of such facts, that slaves, when inquired of as to their condition and the character of their masters, almost universally say they are contented, and that their masters are kind.” This quote is ironic because, ninety-nine percent of the time, slaves detested their masters and was not content, and what slaves had to say was usually the opposite of what they felt. This example is used by Douglass to show how slaves must behave in the presence their masters and other whites in order to avoid repercussions. For example in the story Douglass tells, the slave had no idea that he is talking to his master and unintentionally tells more than he should. Through his use of irony, Douglass clearly explains how the slaves had to conduct themselves in order to survive and not be punished or sold.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012 11:52:43 AM UTC-4, OliviaPasserini wrote:

[jamiemelville1]

Irony:

"If a horse did not move fast enough, or hold his head high enough, it was owning to some fault of his keepers." (Douglass 252).

Frederick Douglass incorporates this ironic idea in order to further prove his purpose of conquering the rules of being a slave. It demonstrates the amount of dehumanization in that the horses vs. slaves caretaking should be seemingly opposite; Lloyd cares so deeply for his horses, and demands that Barney and Barney Jr. take precisely perfect care of them, yet the slaves, who are humans, are treated so cruelly. The fact that animals are treated as humans, and humans are treated as animals, demonstrates the hardships a slave must endure in order to become a trustworthy slave, especially with the dehumanizing acts thrust upon them.

[Mikaela Litchfield]

Chiasmus/Irony 

"They were frequently whipped when least deserving, and escaped whipping when most deserving”

There is an irony that Frederick Douglass expresses throughout his autobiography, one that is singularly encased when he describes the punishment of the two slaves in charge of caring for Colonel Llyod’s horses. “They were frequently whipped when least deserving, and escaped whipping when most deserving” (252). Perhaps what Douglass is trying to demonstrate is the unpredictability of slavery. The punishment of slaves, especially the two Barneys, was fickle and usually didn’t make sense. This coincides with Douglass’ description of the etiquette of slavery because sometimes it was impossible to be out of harm’s way while you were another person’s property. Slavery itself didn’t make sense, and as the purpose of The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass was to raise awareness about the reasons for abolition, exemplifying the irony of slavery helped to better that argument. 

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012 11:52:43 AM UTC-4, OliviaPasserini wrote: