Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and the excerpt from My Bondage and My Freedom while about the same scene, are very different. I wanted to note some differences in tone and language that I found in the passages, which seem to reflect the additional years Douglass has had to reflect on this turning point in his life and what additional knowledge he has learned. 

The first notable difference: “My master, who I did not venture to hope would protect me as a man, had even now refused to protect me as his property” (Bondage, 1229). I know that in the early text Douglass does not shy away from the term “property”, but he always uses it passively when in reference to himself. In Narrative, it is inferred that Douglass is a part of this larger group who suffers the effects of commodification and further dehumanization. Here, it is a stark and direct declaration, which shifts the tone significantly to be more confident – or assertive – of the truth he was establishing in the former text. 

Another notable difference was the addition of this excerpt: “I was loved by the colored people, because they thought I was hated for my knowledge, and persecuted because I was feared” (Bondage, 1231). The awareness shown in this statement is bold because it is so blunt and it seems to acknowledge how he recognized his actions as having an effect/were being noticed. It is not that Narrative did not convey this message of knowledge as a weapon, but the declaration from Douglass himself was not seen. The fight with Covey or Mr. Auld’s reaction to the ABCs provides a good illustration of how knowledge is feared in slaves by slave masters, but it strikes as even more powerful in this written format. For me, these past two declarations are symbolic of Douglass becoming even more comfortable with and aware of how using words can influence politics, culture, and history. 

The last thing that I wanted to note was the line “I was nothing before; I WAS A MAN NOW” (Bondage, 1235). In Narrative, there are the similar lines that read as “and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (1199) and “you shall see how a slave was made a man” (1200). I’ll preface that I do not mean to say that the latter lines are being replaced by the former because this is something that I cannot know, yet the change does reflect the same theme (as the previous examples). Whereas in Narrative, Douglass seems to be separating the Douglass of the past from the present, the later text revises the statement to indicate Douglass’ complete possession of his past (“I” is being used now). In all, these differences develop a growing sense of stability and confidence in his identity.