The Narrative of Douglas

           Frederick Douglass was born a slave, but he always believed that one day he would be a free man. Even though all the inhumane conditions that he suffered during his life, he never gave up hope. And he always keeps a positive point of view about life. His courage was indestructible. When he became a free man, he wrote his Narrative that is one of the most powerful testimonies against the slavery system.  Frederick Douglass in his Narrative uses all three kinds of rhetorical appeals, but his most effective appeal is pathos, which he uses in his vivid description of his memories as a slave.

          Douglass states in his book how inhumane and desperate the slave system was when his master passed away, and all his possessions needed to be evaluated to his heirs. This is a perfect example of using of pathos, for Douglass is giving us a vivid description of the inhumane conditions that the slaves had to endure. Douglass finds himself feeling excited and anxious realizing that his future was in the hands of the slaveholders. Douglass feels so desolate without any faith. "We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine. There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination. Silvery-headed age and sprightly youth, maids and matrons, had to undergo the same indelicate inspection. At this moment, I saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slave and slaveholder” (Douglas108). The essence of Douglass's argument is that slaveholder's system was so evil and Machiavellian that they considered our most appreciated treasure, that is our life, at the same level of the life of a horse or pig.  Slaves were already humiliated enough, sharing the same living conditions with a pig, and on top of it had to pass for the same kind of embarrassing examination as the animals.

         Additionally, we find Douglas appealing to the pathos when he describes clearly how the letters of certain songs affected him. He claims that the letters of these songs that were talking about the atrocities of the slave system, were more powerful than a complete set of books talking about the slavery system. He writes himself, “Every tone was a testimony against slavery and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit and filled me with ineffable sadness. I have frequently found myself in tears while hearing them. The mere recurrence to those songs, even now, afflicts me; and while I am writing these lines, an expression of feeling has already found its way down my cheek.”(Douglas 53). With this eloquent and vivid description, the author expresses his point of view about the songs that the slaves would sing while they were working in the fields.  According to the author, they expressed the daily agony of living in those conditions. Working from dawn to dusk every day without any rights, not even getting enough food to survive. Slaves sang in order to relieve their agony. Douglas says that he cannot understand how people believe that this song was an allegory of happiness for the slaves. What kind of happiness can a slave express? Surviving another day of whippings or starvation?  Seeing all your family suffering without any faith for the future?  The author remembers this episode in his life so intense and vivid that he is in tears. This appeal by Douglass is powerful and effective, and he displays his enormous gift for writing.

       The author also appeals to the pathos with this quote when he narrates his grandmother’s condition. In this passage, we can see clearly how twisted and insane were the minds of the slaveholders that they isolate Douglass’s grandmother, so she could not enjoy her last years of life living and enjoying her family, that she birthed and raised on the farm. Douglass

 " She stands—she sits—she staggers—she falls—she groans—she dies—and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death, or to place beneath the sod her fell remains. Will not a righteous God visit for these things?”(Douglass 115). Personally, I think, this is one of the more powerful quotes from his Narrative. Douglass tells how his grandmother, who gave birth to twelve kids to work in the field, after she got too old, and was not able to work or be productive on the farm, was isolated to a hut far away to the farm, by herself, without the company of any member of her family. They were just waiting for her to die, but the most compelling part was that she was alone. Douglass raises his voice of protest when he appeals to the minimum consideration for his grandmother that deserves to spend her last years in the company of her family. This passage is one of the most intense of his book, showing how corrupt the slaveholder system was. They purposely wanted his grandmother to die miserable and alone, so she would feel that she did not have any meaning to the family. This was one of the events that most affected Douglas's life. He describes it so vividly and intensely that it seems so real and immediate for the reader.

        To sum up, Douglass’ uses of pathos were extremely compelling.  He recreates, with such a vivid description, all the trials and tribulations of living as a slave, so that the reader feels what he was feeling at the time. He succeeds in his purpose of making the reader feel how miserable the condition of the slaves was. His book is a testimony against the slavery system. He narrates all the passages and episodes so intensely using the pathos appeals that the reader cannot avoid getting involved with all the degrading effects of the slavery system. This evil system was based on humiliation and degradation of the slaves’ minds, which was so successful that they began to believe that they were better off being part of the system. The slave system’s mission was to put down their slaves and to convince them that there were not any other ways of living for them.  Douglas tells how the baby slaves were separated from their mothers on purpose; they cannot feel any connection with them. Also, Douglass’s grandmother was separated from their family when she was not able to work anymore for the masters.  When the author narrates how men and women were put in the same condition as the rest of the animals on the farm. This episode was so degrading to the slaves’ minds.  The author’s strong desire to be a free man played an important role in his cause, which was to let everybody know what the slave system did to his people. Douglass’s book is an amazing testimony of this system of oppression that killed the souls of thousands of people that never asked to be separated from their land of origin, and being brought to the new continent to suffer such humiliating conditions for so many generations. Finally, after the system was over, they became free, but the seeds of evil were already planted in their souls and minds so deeply that although this happened so many years ago, their descendants are still struggling from its legacy.