The Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglass illustrates in great detail the life that Frederick Douglass was faced to endure. Through his narrative we are given the opportunity to follow Douglass from child hood to his life as a free man. Along this journey we are given a first hand account of what slavery was like in the 1800’s, as well as an emotional outlook at the struggle which led Douglass to freedom, allowing him to become a prominent slavery abolitionist. This essay will explore Douglass’ critique of slavery, as well as the ways in which Douglass uses his story to appeal to his audiences.

It is clear from the beginning of the novel that slavery is evil, this is subtly apparent when we are first introduced to Frederick Douglass as a child with no identity, idea of who he is or where he comes from. Clearly Douglass has no sense of self other than his life as a slave. In a sense Douglass is dehumanized with no idea of his age or knowledge of his parents, and views himself as a piece of property. His only sense of a father is his master, a man who tortures and beats him. This cruelty of having no self-identity paints a clear image of just one of the ways slavery is

In his early years, Douglass followed the notion that a slave was to do what they were told or otherwise suffer the consequences. "It is better that a dozen slaves suffer under the lash, than that the overseer should be convicted, in the presence of the slaves, of having been at fault” (pg. 65).

Douglass wrote the novel with the intention of reaching out to any and all people who had an opinion concerning slavery (which was basically everyone at that time). For those individuals who were already opposed to slavery, he wanted to motivate them to make a change. To those individuals in favor of slavery, he wanted them to understand what it was like to live the life of a slave. He did so by using the story to appeal to the sensibilities of his audience by painting a vivid picture. In his novel Douglass offers first hand accounts of slavery offering a powerful, and vivid description of what it was like to live through, and witness the things he had to endure. The fact that Douglass was an educated man becomes obviously clear throughout his story because he uses tactics like plot twist to keep the reader interested. At times Douglass is telling a story within a story. Not only is the message of the narrative incredible, but also the book itself is intriguing to read.

This was reality for Douglass, and for a while he played along, but as he got older his opinions b

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