Friday, April 01, 2005

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass chronicles his journey from fatherless slave to self-sustained free individual in this autobiography. His discovery of his worth as a person was intriguing; the attitudes and obstacles he encountered and overcame rather amazing. He had profound points to make about the institution of slavery. And he did it all concisely. Brevity is a virtue, after all. Altogether, it was a very well-done piece.

I especially appreciated the Appendix. There, Douglass analyzes his presentation of Christianity throughout his book and definitively ascertains the mutual exclusiveness of the religion of the slaveholders and true Christianity.

It was a slim volume with important points to make. Douglass was a naturally intelligent person who helped to show the world that Aftrican-Americans are simply people with the same endowments and abilities as anyone else. In fact, I admired him so much, I wrote an essay on him and got second place in a contest. Douglass won me $100. I like him a lot.

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