- On page 53 of the original text, Douglass recounts the vicissitudes of his own literate awakening. What does his account speak to regarding the internalization of negative, oppressive reinforcement?
- What caused Douglass’ aversion to thinking? Why did it quickly become the bane of his existence?
In the narrative of Fredrick Douglass, we find that Douglas taught himself how to read after a brief introduction to the a b c’ s from his mistress. After his master finds out that his wife had provided Douglass with such instruction, he forbids her from teaching Douglas anything more on the grounds that a slave’s sole purpose is to serve his master and that any literate slave is undoubtedly rebellious, defiant, disloyal and in fact, ruined altogether as a slave.
ReplyDeleteIt is because of Douglas’ readings of Sheridan’s speeches that he feels supported in his conviction that slavery is wrong. It provides him with a shared response to the cruel and malicious system of slavery and allows him to see that other people held similar views to himself. “The words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought.” Slaveholders suppressed any communication among slaves and this permeated their oppression. Douglas’ literate awakening gives him a connection to people voicing the same thoughts that he’s had and it makes it impossible for him not to move forward in mobilizing support for his beliefs. Douglas’ thinking became the bane of his existence because he had to continue with the pretense of his former life in which communication and free thought is suppressed while contending with this new existence where he feels he has come upon the truth of the situation and he feels compelled to act upon it.
As the above comment relates, Douglass taught himself how to read after receiving a lesson in the alphabet from his new mistress. The lessons initially began out of Mrs. Auld's desire to teach him how to read, until his master commanded her to stop, since literacy would only make him "discontented and unhappy" and unmanageable as a slave. She accordingly stopped, but Douglass correctly inferred that his master would only speak so vehemently if he knew the truth of what he was saying, and he thus decided to continue learning on his own, so that he could become more educated. On page 53 Douglass describes his "literary awakening" as he read a book of speeches about Catholic emancipation. In this passage he tells us how, as he read the text, he became truly aware of the injustice of his own condition and the inhumanity of his owners. This process of realization for the first time of his situation and of just how much he had been wronged and oppressed by his masters shows the extent to which his masters had inculcated in him the understanding of his position and his duty as a slave: i.e. to obey his masters without question. By having internalized in this way the negative oppression he faced at the hands of his masters, Douglass never fully realized the injustice he had suffered until he attained this status of literacy and was able to educate himself.
ReplyDeleteDouglass relates in this same passage how thinking became horrible to him because now that he had read about and understood slavery for what it was, he could not stop dwelling on it or thinking about his own sufferings. Reading had given him the ability to see the reality of his situation but not the knowledge of how to find a way out or express himself, and in this new state of torment he sometimes "envied [his] fellow-slaves for their stupidity."
While he initially saw it as a blessing, Douglas came to realize that the ability to read was in many ways a curse as well. “Ignorance is bliss,” and Douglas came to experience that firsthand. Before learning how to read, he had had very limited knowledge of the world he lived in and the true nature of his circumstances. Slavery, while of course not pleasant for him, was something that he couldn’t truly appreciate the magnitude of, because of a lack of understanding. He couldn’t see its true ugliness. Reading, however, opened up a new world to him. Reading Sheridan was to him a revelation, new insight into the true nature of slavery, the level of its evil. And in learning this, he came to hate slavery all the more, and everything associated with it, including, of course, its participants: slaveholders, including his own master. He realized that he was trapped in the institution of slavery with no way to get out. Learning how to read was effectively increased awareness of how horrid his situation, how terrible his lot in life was, without any increase in his ability to escape that lot. And so he comes to, at least partially, prefer blissful ignorance to increased knowledge. Had the knowledge that had come with reading also offered him some idea of how to escape, some new strategy with which to escape his bonds, it would have been a different matter entirely. But such was not the case. More knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean increased freedom; in Douglas’ case, it simply meant increased suffering. The pain of knowing outweighed any joy. And so the result is simply an aversion to thinking: why think if the only result of thinking is pain? Better to just go about life numbed to the reality of it all, if you have no practical way of altering your situation.
ReplyDeleteDouglass’ aversion to thinking was caused by sudden access to knowledge that literacy granted him. Before learning to read, Douglass had no idea that “abolitionists” existed. He accepted his place as a slave because he was not aware that there were any other alternatives or viewpoints regarding his position in slavery. As Douglass read the abolitionist papers, his ignorance to the injustice of slavery was destroyed. Literacy “had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy.” Literacy left him in a state of helplessness. Furthermore, just the act of reading other people’s opinions about slavery shed light on his own, previously unconscious and underdeveloped, thoughts of slavery. Reading had empowered him with the tools necessary to make his abstract ideas into concrete dialogue. Reading also opened his own mind to further developing his thoughts about slavery. “It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me. There was no getting rid of it. It was pressed upon me by every object within sight or hearing, animate or inanimate.” Now that Douglass has seen the injustices of slavery through reading, he cannot eradicate the yearning for a better life outside of slavery, freedom. He sees his pitiful condition everywhere and the malice of the masters. It is the little hope of freedom that keeps him from killing himself. Indeed, his newfound knowledge brought by reading, that slavery is a violation of freedom, yet that he is unable to do anything about it causes him torment and makes thinking the band of his existence.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above, Douglass learned how to read from his mistress, and this was viewed as dangerous by the slaveowners because it would cause them to be "unfit for a slave." And in a way it did. Becoming literate showed Douglass the magnitude and atrocity of the situation in which he was in as a slave for life. Whereas he wasn't aware of the history of slavery prior to learning how to read, he became painfully cognizant of the many readings and opinions on slavery, so the knowledge this proved to be the bane of his existence. Upon learning more about what was actually happening to him, he became increasingly unhappy with his life and even wished he never existed. While we consider literacy now a great privilege, Douglass regretted his ability to read because it opened his eyes to the great injustice he was subjected to. Yet this new knowledge allowed him to fight for his cause and freedom with greater passion so actually his mistress who taught him how to read gave him amazing power. The slave owners were right, in that a literate slave would make him unfit for the role because they would rise up in rebellion once they discovered how horribly they were being treated. And Douglass’s literacy provided him just that.
ReplyDeleteWords hold history. I think that for Frederick Douglass, his awakening or coming- into-consciousness began alongside learning how to read and write and the relationship between he held with his mistress. His account regarding the internalization of oppression seemed to be alongside the relationship to the dehumanizing other. Realizing the sort of control that the dehumanizer exerts over the dehumanized and the psychology behind slavery and slave-mentality is expressed throughout his account. Not only did Douglass seemed to notice the kinds of things that “his master” wanted/needed him to do but he also began to see the differences between the city and the plantations. What made the slave from the city think differently from the slave from the plantations? What kind of conditions enabled a different form of thinking? In the account, he also expressed his thoughts in regards to how he felt during the time he began to read. An interesting aspect in his account that I think may also have to do with his aversion to thinking is the tracking of his thoughts that made him begin questioning his own actions. For example, the fact that the more he read, the more he became angered at his master. And how he wished to have never learned for at times it felt better to “be stupid” than to experience what he was experiencing during his awakening.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, his experience reminds me a lot of our current systems of education. Who gets to be literate, who gets to read what kinds of books and therefore know what kinds of things predetermines who gets to go to certain schools (colleges). I think it is important to recognize history and recognize the weight that words carry. Words are knowledge and knowledge is power. Only then would we begin to effect good (inclusive) changes in our educational systems.
Additional Questions:
ReplyDelete• How does religious institutions shape or better yet influence Douglass’s literacy?
• What does Douglass’s naritive convey about America at that time? Is literacy a political instrument for “omniscient repression?”
• How is the notion of the ‘zone of proximal development’ conveyed in Douglass’s narrative?