Ignorance Is Bliss (Douglass Ch. 7 & 8)

       The lack of knowledge to a situation is bliss. Once the whole truth is revealed one realizes they were much happier being clueless. In my previous blog post I had mentioned how Education is the key to success. However, now we learn how Douglass is beginning to regret having knowledge, and at moments would rather be just as ignorant as the rest of the slaves. This idea of "the less you know the better" has a lot of truth to it, even in our lives.

       The documents he read (especially The Columbian Orator) enabled him to challenge the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery, but "while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful that the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers." (pg. 51)

        We start to see how this is the spark of Douglass´s rebellion, he begins to truly notice how dreadful his life is. "I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my retched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out" (pg. 51). Frederick´s knowledge gives him sadness without cure to a better life. We can understand why he "envied his fellow slaves for their stupidity"; although they also live in horrid conditions, they have accepted it as their life. They don´t know any better, they have no idea why they are slaves, if slavery is wrong, or if there is any slight hope of freedom. Instead, Douglass knew it all, which turned out to be a huge burden for him.

       This saying "ignorance is bliss" can also be applied to us. When we were small children, we used to be so much happier. We watched cartoons on T.V all day and our biggest concern was that Tom might catch Jerry. However, whenever we turn on the T.V now, all we see is how many innocent kids died in the middle east and so many more tragic event. As we grow older we notice how messed up the world is and how there isn´t much we can do to change it.

       Douglass suffered a lot from this and decided it could not continue for ever. This is was the "danger" of learning according to Mr. Hugh. It is why "education and slavery were incompatible with each other" (pg.49). Now that he had knowledge, he found his condition to be unbearable. After the death of many of his slaveowners and being moved around as "property", Frederick is determined to eventually escape.

Roller-coaster of Emotions (Douglass Ch. 5 & 6)

       While reading these chapters one is served with a platter of different emotions, but most of all hope for change. There are a myriad of feelings we get from Frederick´s different situations. At first I was shocked and disgusted by the living conditions at Colonel Lloyd´s plantation. Although Douglass had his good share of leisure time he, "suffered much from hunger, but much more from cold. In 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. I had no bed" ( pg. 39). This made me place myself in his shoes, we give ourselves so many luxuries and often do not appreciate the basic needs that we have while many do not. Another disheartening moment is when we find out that they are fed "like so many pigs"where they must fight for the mush and only few are left satisfied.

       Next I felt joy at the news of his departure from the Colonel Lloyd´s. It could not possibly get worse than the plantation. Because of the conditions he lived in, Douglass makes it seem as if Baltimore was heaven. "The thought of owning a pair of trousers was great indeed!" (pg. 40). Then again, this made me wonder, how can someone be so happy about such simple things? It only shows how those who don´t have appreciate the most, this evidence of the saying "hunger is the best seasoning". 

       "And here I saw what I had never seen before; it was a white face beaming with the most kindly emotions; it was the face of my new mistress, Sophia Auld. I wish I could describe the rapture that flashed through my soul as I beheld it. It was a new and strange sight to me, brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness." I was so eager and excited for this stage of his life, things finally start to go well for Douglass in Baltimore. I also look up to his religious views, he is so glad and thankful to God for giving him this opportunity, but we do not see him whining and blaming God for making him a slave. :;

       I felt so much hope when I realized Douglass actually had a chance. After Mrs. Auld´s attempt to teach Frederick, it is accidentally revealed by Mr. Auld that education is the Key to freedom. "If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave" (pg. 45). This brought a smirk to my face just as much as it did to Douglass. He now knew the secret and was determined to learn.

       At the end of the chapter, I was brought back to sad reality. The sickening treatment of oppressive slave-owners was everywhere, not only in plantations.  Douglass tells us about Henrietta and Mary. " The head, neck, and shoulders of Mary were literally cut to pieces. I have frequently felt her head, and found it nearly covered with festering sores, caused by the lash of her cruel mistress" (pg. 47). This made me so angry that I could feel them lashing at my chest. How could anybody be so inhumane?

VOCABULARY:

1) ell: A former measure of length (equivalent to six hand breadths) used mainly for textiles, locally variable but typically about 45 inches.

2) mange: A skin disease of mammals caused by parasitic mites that causes severe itching, hair loss, and the formation of scabs and lesions.

3) galling: Annoying; humiliating; vexing

School Attendance

            In the article So That Nobody Has To Go To School If They Don´t Want To by Roger Sipher, he focuses on the progress that public schools would have if attendance was not mandatory. What he meant by this is that those who really want to learn should be the ones to attend school, so that those who aren’t interested would not  “pollute the educational atmosphere for those who want to learn.” It is of no use to obligate people to go to school because like the famous saying which the author incorporated in the article says: "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink."

            

Master of Persuasion (Douglass Ch. 3 & 4)

       Douglass is a very persuasive writer, he conveys many emotions and makes us both understand and sympathize the life of slaves. He does this through the use of Aristotle's ancient rhetorical modes (Ethos, Logos, and Pathos). Ethos is credibility and it convinces by means of the character of the author. Frederick Douglass shows us this because we know that he is a slave who has experienced or been around those who suffer from these unfortunate events. In the previous chapters Douglass tells us that he has been raised in these plantations since birth; therefore it is safe for us to say that he knows the system like the back of his hand.

       Logos is persuasion through reasoning and the use of logic. An example of this is when he says: "I speak advisedly when I say this, - that killing a slave, or any colored person, in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community." (Douglass, 37). This quote is pretty much factual and it explains that this is the way the system worked.

       Pathos attempts to convince by means of emotional appeal, it makes the audience feel empathy. Because this is a narration, it is common for pathos to be seen throughout the whole text. Every detail and anecdote strikes us emotionally, it makes us experience great sympathy for the victims. Even the previous quote can be interpreted as pathos; because of the sickening way that society worked, we feel terrible for the slaves and their misfortune. In my opinion, pathos can be the most efficient form of persuasion due to its effect on the audience.