New Found Freedom

Douglass purposely leaves at how he escapes from slavery. Douglass flips the scenario of ignorance as a means of control. Douglass purposely does not educate slaveholders on different ways slaves escape. Douglass’ tone becomes very nervous when describing the events leading up to his escape. (Tone is a literary technique that is a part of composition, which encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work.) Douglass’ greatest fear is failure. Douglass finally escapes to New York. Instead of being relieved at his new found freedom, ironically he is overcome with terror. (The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning) Douglass is very worried about food and shelter. And because of his escape, he is scared to ask for help, fearing that he will be discovered.  Finally Douglass meets David Ruggles, a free black man, who helps him by giving him money and writing him a letter of recommendation. He also helps Douglass connect with is fiancée Anna and is a witness at their marriage.  Anna and Frederick move to New Bedford. Douglass is very surprised and amazed at how prosperous this new city is. Douglass strangely associates slave labor with prosperity. So to see this new way of living without slave labor is a shock to his previous assumptions. Although some parts of this narrative was hard to read, I really enjoyed reading this story!