Judging by the way this book reads so far, it is one that I could read in one sitting if I had an afternoon with no other responsibilities. I’m drawn to this type of historical information, whether it is in books, movies, interviews or any other form. I was actually exited when I learned that this was one of the literature pieces that we would be reading this semester.
Fredrick Douglass opens the narrative in a way that immediately grabs my attention. As he stated, he had no accurate knowledge of his age. He said that this was the case with the majority of the slaves he knew. “By far the large part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs” (Douglass 923). He estimates his age based on hearing his master mention that he was about 17 years old in 1835.
It is somewhat difficult to organize my thoughts on this narrative so far, having read such a small portion of the story. I can say that Douglass is very crafty in the way he describes the people in the narrative, more specifically, the masters and overseers. He describes his first master’s overseer, Mr. Plummer as “a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer , and a savage monster (Douglass 925). Another overseer he describes is Mr. Gore. He is described as “proud, ambitious and preserving. He was artful, cruel and obdurate” (Douglass 932).
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