As discussed in class, Frederick Douglas never concretely states his feelings towards different people that he knew, or different situations that he was put in. It was even stated in class, for example, that fight scenes are not clearly described, nor are there any emotions connected to them. I feel however, that Douglas does this for a reason. Frederick Douglas, although he does not come right out and share his opinions and feelings, I believe that he slips them very subtly into his writing. For example, when Douglas describes his first overseer named Mr. Plummer, he describes him as "a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster." From this description alone, we know that Douglas clearly does not care for the man. He does not have to come right out and say that he despises the overseer. He just implies it.
I believe that this lack of feeling is due in part to two factors. The first of which is that Douglas is now older, and trying to recall and write about things that took place in the past. Therefore, his memory of such events and people must be a little foggy. The second however, is that I do believe that Douglas wanted to see how others would react to his writing. I think that no matter how uneducated he was said to be, that he could still want to get a reaction or response from those who read his writing. I feel that no matter who you are, you are always looking for others' approval in some way, shape, or form. I believe that by not putting his own thoughts into his writing, Frederick Douglas was trying not to put a bias on the story. I feel that by then seeing others' reactions to reading his story, he would then receive the readers' approval of his life and his escape from the harsh life of slavery that he was looking for. Douglas wanted to have the satisfaction of knowing that readers would give their own honest viewpoints of his life's story, without being influenced. In this way, they would also come to the conclusion that slavery was wrong and unjust, but only on their own. I feel that Douglas left his writing this way, so that it would leave a much stronger impression on its readers.
3 comments:
I'm not sure if I agree or disagree with how you interpret the lack of feelings and emotions in Douglass' writing. On certain levels I agree, but at the same time, although he was literate he still wasn't formerly educated. I'm not sure if he consciously left out his personal feelings in order to keep his writing unbiased, or if it coincidentally turned out that way. Obviously slaves weren't thought of as human beings, and slave holders made sure their slaves felt as low as they could. Slaves weren't allowed to express emotion or show their feelings, and even though it's instinct to do so, being "brain washed" into this had to suppress their feelings. So whether or not Douglass left out his feelings intentionally or not, I'm not positive, but either way this style of writing definitely did leave the reader room to form their own opinion.
I agree with the statement that Douglas implies how he feels. I think that in many of his descriptions he uses powerful language to infer how he may have felt about the person or situation. I also think that time plays an important role in how he remembers things. But more importantly I think that Douglas may have wanted to remove himself from the narrative so that the facts spoke for themselves more than the experience.
I think that Douglass was smart in not coming right out and saying what he felt, because implying it makes the reader think about it and then make their own assumptions. By leaving out most of his own personal feelings I think that he made himself seem a lot stronger than he actually was. Because although he explained that he was extremely fearful, he did not going on and on saying that he was scared. This was a good way to explain his story.
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