I am unsure how to even begin analyzing Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself because Douglass had so much more at stake than any author we’ve read. Emerson wrote for notoriety, Poe for money, and Douglass for freedom. That being said, I found Douglass hard to read in the sense that the content was so devastating, but also easy to read in the sense that his sentences flowed well. It’s interesting to consider that his writing style is perhaps most authentic because he did not have access to literature growing up so in many ways his voice as a writer was not as heavily influenced as someone who came from a privileged background and grew up reading both ancient and contemporary literature (for example, Emerson). The way that Douglass writes about how he taught himself to read and write is truly remarkable, and I feel like I don’t have any literary analysis because I’m so in awe of how he was able to write about something so horrific and traumatic in such a composed manner.
I would also be really interested in reading Douglass’s later re-publications, because the introduction mentions that he writes differently about his mother and grandmother in them. One of the most heart-wrenching parts of Douglass’s story is his separation from his family, and I would be really interested in learning more about his familial relations.
