The Powerful Slave

The Powerful Slave Frederick Douglass’ account of his days as a slave, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, shows a clear contrast between the slaveholder’s treatment of slaves as property, and the many slaves who fought against and refused objectification. Throughout his book, Douglass shows clear examples of the dehumanizing nature of slave treatment by slaveholders. He tells many stories of slaves being beaten and humiliated, so that they would be made to …

…point of showing the times when slaves were not as submissive. Throughout the narrative, there are many stories of cruelty and inhumane treatment, but Douglass also makes note of all the times when slaves stood up to their masters and defied resisted humiliation and punishment. By doing this, Douglass challenges the common misconception that all salves were completely powerless and submissive and proves that even in their dreadful situation, they too were still human beings.