Liam Oberst

Mrs. Bouch

Honors English 11

14 March 2018

Theme of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Why did humans believe that they had the right to own other humans? Slavery was a

terrible thing that ruined countless lives. Those people did not have a chance to live at all.

Frederick Douglass develops the theme that slavery is horribly inhumane by using imagery,

characters, and irony.

One way that Frederick Douglass develops the theme that slavery is horribly inhumane is

trough imagery. Douglass’s description of the whipping of Aunt Hester is very detailed. He said

that “her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her

toes…after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the

warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping

to the floor” (6). This quote is extremely vivid. Douglass’s use of imagery is obvious in it. Next,

he also uses vivid imagery when he is talking about Mr. Severe. He said, “I have seen him whip

woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at the time; and this, too, in the midst of her crying

children, pleading for their mother’s release. He seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his

barbarity” (9). Again, this description puts an image in the reader’s mind to show how brutal the

treatment of the slaves was. Finally, the last example exhibit’s Douglass’s use of imagery to

show that slaves were killed without remorse. Douglass explains, “Mr. Gore told him that he

would give him three calls, and that, if he did not come out at the third call, he would shoot
him... Mr. Gore then, without consultation or deliberation with any one… raised his musket to

his face, taking deadly aim at this standing victim, and in an instant poor Demby was no more.

His mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood”

(19-20). This portrays how the whites did not show mercy to the slaves. They would kill them

and carry on with their day like nothing had happened. This is how Frederick Douglass uses

imagery to further develop the theme that slavery is horribly inhumane.

Douglass also used the characters to show how slavery is a very inhumane act. The first

character is Mr. Severe. Douglass explained this about Mr. Severe, “Mr. Severe, the overseer,

used to stand by the door of the quarter, armed with a large hickory stick and heavy cowskin,

ready to whip anyone who was so unfortunate as not to hear, or, from any other cause, was

prevented from being ready to start for the field at the sound of the horn” (9). This quote shows

how Mr. Severe was a scary person and he was always ready to whip somebody. He is a very

brutal man who shows no remorse for the slaves. When Mr. Severe died, the slaves were ecstatic.

The next character is Mr. Gore. He was another cruel slave overseer. He did not hesitate to kill a

slave who had disobeyed him. An example of this is when he shot Demby. Douglass says that

“Mr. Gore then, without consultation or deliberation with any one, not even giving Demby an

additional call, raised his musket to his face, taking deadly aim at his standing victim, and in an

instant poor Demby was no more” (20). Mr. Gore has a short temper. The final character is

Edward Covey. Covey was a sneaky and deceiving overseer. He was also another fairly cruel

overseer. Covey’s job was to be harsher on Douglass to suppress his rebellious side. Douglass

explains Covey’s reputation, “Mr. Covey had acquired a very high reputation for breaking young

slaves, and this reputation was of immense value to him” (50). Anyone who values a reputation

such as this is someone who supports slavery, which is a very evil thing. Douglass was able to
fight Covey, and Covey ended up leaving him alone. This does not take away the fact that Covey

was very cruel and deceiving. This is how Douglass uses the characters in the novel to develop

the theme that slavery is inhumane.

The final way that Douglass develops the theme that slavery is inhumane is through

irony. The first example of irony is the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders. Douglass hates “the

corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity

of this land” (101). Everything listed in this quote is against Christian values, which is how it

portrays the irony of Christian slaveholders. The next example of irony that Douglass uses is

when he is talking about Colonel Lloyd and his horses. Lloyd appoints slaves to take care of his

horses, and if they do not do a good job of taking care of the horses, they will be treated terribly.

Douglass states that “everything depended upon the looks of the horses, and the state of Colonel

Lloyd’s own mind when his horses were brought to him for use. If a horse did not move fast

enough, or hold his head high enough, it was owing to some fault of his keepers” (14). The irony

in this quote is that literal animals are treated better than human beings. The final example of

irony that Douglass uses is when he finally is free and yet he feels insecure and lonely. Douglass

was excited to be free at first, but he says that “this state of mind, however, very soon subsided;

and I was again seized with a feeling of great insecurity and loneliness” (92). This quote relates

to the theme that slavery is inhumane because slavery created the societal construct all blacks

should not be treated fairly. A slave becoming free, should be the happiness moment of their life,

and yet Douglass feels insecure and lonely because people want to stay away from him. It is a

sad situation. This is how Douglass uses irony to develop the theme that slavery is inhumane.

Douglass was a huge icon in the abolishment movement. He overcame the odds, and

learned how to read and write. He was able to write a novel to showcase the horrible inhumanity
of slavery. Slavery has long since been abolished, but we still have a ways to go. Racism is a

prominent problem in today’s world. We as today’s society should look up to Frederick

Douglass.