Maria Vatsi

Erasmus student

Instructor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel

Introduction to African American History and Culture

28/4/2021




   Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave


Frederick Douglass’s narrative touches upon a variety of issues. The writer shares his experiences
and manages to raise readers’ awareness regarding slavery and the atrocities performed at the
expense of slaves. His contribution as an abolitionist is also considered essential and admirable,
as his eye-opening story awakened the masses and shed light onto the inhumane treatment of African
American people. Douglass, after earning his freedom, became an abolitionist leader, inspiring
others through his speeches. In his narrative, he also refers to the influence religion had on
people and the way the white supremacists used it as an excuse for their cruel acts. At the
beginning of his essay, Douglass introduces us to his family background. He is separated from his
mother from a very young age and he speculated that his father was Captain Anthony, who seemingly
raped his mother. In his writing he reflects his feelings towards his “parents” and his lack of
family. In this essay, I will demonstrate Douglass’s potential parental figures, his efforts to
gain family affection and whether he succeeded or not.


At the beginning of his narrative, Douglass states that he did not know who his father was and that
he did not feel close to his mother. He was raised by his grandmother and he did not feel sad when
his mother died. In my opinion, a potential father figure could be William Freeland. He did not
have a close relationship with Freeland, but the rest of his masters were by far crueler. As
Douglass says, Freeland was the best master he ever had. He treated slaves nicely and they were
well fed. Freeland was the most straightforward and fair of all masters Douglass had. This is why
Douglass created the pun Free Land, based on Freeland’s kindness. Douglass was also content with
the fact that Freeland was not religious. He had horrible experiences with owners who practiced
religion, on the name of which they acted with brutality. Regarding Douglass’s mother figure, I
believe he looked up to Sophia Auld. Despite the fact that she became cruel after her husband’s
influence, Sophia was very kind to Douglass at the beginning. She was loving, caring and
affectionate. He immediately connected with her and felt grateful for her behavior. In addition,
she taught him how to read and write and this way he was introduced to the reality of slavery. He
at last understood the barbarity imposed on slaves.


Apart from family relationships, Douglass developed a strong bond with his fellow slaves during his
stay with Freeland. He valued friendship and he considered them his brothers. When he attempted to
escape from the South, he could not leave his friends behind. As a result, he planned fleeing with
them. When he was sent away from them he was devastated by what he called “the pain of separation”.
In my opinion, his fellow slaves were the family he never had. Douglass in general was in search of
a relationship. Growing without parents or generally family was very difficult. During his slave
life in the South, I believe his substitute for friends was his fellow slaves, since he was feeling
a special connection to them. He was looking for company, because he was alone before meeting these
people. They bonded, they shared the same love for reading and writing and they planned their
escape together. What is more, after running away to the North he was feeling lonely. He was by
himself, without food, home or job and he needed his friends. This was a different kind of
loneliness, as he was missing them. Nevertheless, his new substitute for family in the North was
his wife, Anna Murray, with whom he created his own family. In general, I consider his search
successful. He managed to find the family we was looking for, either through his friends or his
wife Anna, and fill in the void.


All in all Douglass’s narrative is very powerful in terms of the messages it transmits. It becomes
evident that he was searching for a family, for friends. I feel sure he found one in his fellow
slaves, with whom he experienced many difficulties. After fleeing, he created a new family with
Anna Murray. However, I believe that he felt a closer connection to his friends. This is due to the
fact that he mentioned Anna only at the end of the narrative and he did not give many details about
their life and his feelings towards her. In general, after all the hardships he succeeded in
finding people that he cared for and people who cared for him.