On the one hand, there stood slavery, a stern reality, glaring frightfully upon us, — its robes already crimsoned with the blood of millions, and even now feasting itself greedily upon our own flesh. On the other hand, away back in the dim distance, under the flickering light of the north star, behind some craggy hill or snow-covered mountain, stood a doubtful freedom—half frozen—beckoning us to come and share its hospitality. This in itself was sometimes enough to stagger us; but when we permitted ourselves to survey the road, we were frequently appalled. Upon either side we saw grim death, assuming the most horrid shapes. Now it was starvation, causing us to eat our own flesh; — now we were contending with the waves, and were drowned; — now we were overtaken, and torn to pieces by the beasts, bitten by the snakes, and finally, after having nearly reached the desired spot, — after swimming rivers, encountering wild beasts , sleeping in the woods, suffering hunger and nakedness, — we were overtaken by our pursuers, and, in our resistance, we were shot dead upon the spot! I say, this picture sometimes appalled us, and made us
“rather bear those ills we had
Than fly to others, that we knew not of.”
Frederick Douglass artfully uses symbolism, metaphor, and irony in his writing. The passage above is part of his Narrative, even though it is not included in the few posted pages that you are reading. Douglass’ detractors sometimes doubted his “authorship,” because he seemed to command such linguistic fluency and poetic skill. The quoted passage uses gothic imagery in a strategic manner in order to evoke pathos (feeling and emotion) in the reader. And his use of Shakespeare’s poetry from Hamlet, which he quotes in the closing lines, illustrates that rather than showing off, he is employing that literary master’s words to reach out to an audience who might be educated and sympathetic to the plight of the enslaved.
Analyze the quoted passage to show its literary skill, and discuss how Douglass’ precise use of words and phrasing is calculated to emphasize the rhetorical appeal of pathos. You must always use direct quotes from the text to support your points.Frederick Douglass artfully uses symbolism, metaphor, and irony in his writing. The passage above is part of his Narrative, even though it is not included in the few posted pages that you are reading. Douglass’ detractors sometimes doubted his “authorship,” because he seemed to command such linguistic fluency and poetic skill. The quoted passage uses gothic imagery in a strategic manner in order to evoke pathos (feeling and emotion) in the reader. And his use of Shakespeare’s poetry from Hamlet, which he quotes in the closing lines, illustrates that rather than showing off, he is employing that literary master’s words to reach out to an audience who might be educated and sympathetic to the plight of the enslaved.
