While the appendix to his first autobiography serves primarily as a clarification about Douglass' views on religion, the appendix to My Bondage and My Freedom includes a letter to a former master, Thomas Auld-a ship captain-and various excerpts from Douglass' abolitionist lectures. Douglass also frames his second autobiography differently, replacing the prefatory notes by white abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips with an introduction by the prominent black abolitionist Dr. GradeSaver, 5 October 2018 Web.Frederick Douglass' second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, significantly revises key portions of his original 1845 Narrative and extends the story of his life to include his experiences as a traveling lecturer in the United States as well as England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. 'My Bondage and My Freedom Symbols, Allegory and Motifs'. Next Section Metaphors and Similes Previous Section Analysis How To Cite in MLA Format Melnyk, Anastasia. Will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback. You can help us out by revising, improving and updatingĪfter you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. In the book, knowledge is highly respected by the narrator himself, as it helped him to become free thus, knowledge becomes an allegory for path to freedom. Writing and reading are now talents demanded of everyone, but in the faraway years of slavery these abilities were forbidden, among slaves in particular. This fact and many other proves that singing of slaves was not a declaration of happiness but simply a cry of a soul and heart. And this singing of his was “a petition for a piece of bread”.

When the narrator was yet a boy, he used to sing under the windows of Miss Lucretia, who treated him kindly and even was considered his friend. In this way, the singing becomes an allegory for relieving one’s despair, their melancholy sadness is put into the singing. Slaves sing because their hearts are filled with sorrows and through the song they try to give it a way.

Singing and songs, or any other joyful noises, amount to a common attribute among slaves, and it is thought by mistake that slaves are happy because they sing. Always used with an unsparing hand, the whip gives a lesson which is called “genteel flogging”. It is referred to by the narrator as a “sovereign remedy” for every form of disobedience, temporal or spiritual. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Ī whip is a common implement in creating submission among slaves, and in this account becomes a symbol of obedience. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

My bondage and freedom