Slave is a narrative autobiography written based on Fredrick Douglass’s experiences as a slave. He wrote this book with the purpose of revealing the injustice institution of slavery and to make the statement “slavery is unfair. ” Fredrick Douglass supports his arguments about slavery by using pathos, or the appeal to the emotions of the audience, where he attempts to persuade the audience through gain of sympathy.
This emotional appeal to the audience can be best shown through the examples of the treatment of his grandmother, the separation between him and his mother, and the beating of his brother. Douglass uses an effective method of pathos when he talks about the story of his “grandma” and her death. On page sixty-three, Douglass says “My poor old grandmother, the devoted mother of twelve children, is left all alone, in yonder little hut before a few dim embers” (63).
This is an excellent example of pathos because he attempts to appeal to the emotional side of the reader.
He does this by using many expressive words such as tenderness, poor, old, and alone which causes the reader to feel sympathetic towards his grandma and her treatment. This reinforces his argument that slavery is a cruel and unfair practice because it makes the reader realize the truth behind the practice of slavery. He later emphasizes the fragility of his grandmother, and describes in much detail the suffering that she faced to again acquire the sympathy of the reader.
The Essay on Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave
Aristotle conceived of three appeals for existence: ethos, pathos and logos, all of which are prevalent in all forms of writing, entertainment, speech, and generally life itself. Fredrick Douglass used all three appeals in writing his narrative as part of his rhetorical strategy to enlighten the public of both his life and his cause more than one hundred years ago. He specifically uses ethos, or ...
He says “she falls, she groans, she dies, and none of her grandchildren present” (63).
This quote illustrates to the readers the unfairness and the atrocity of slavery. Another great example of Douglass’s appeal to the emotions of the audience is found on page three where he talks about his separation form his mother. On page three he says “ I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life”(3).
This quote successfully illustrates the fact that he never knew his mother, and that she was like a stranger to him.
This implies the fact that he missed out on the love of a caring mother that every child deserves due to this unethical, abomination of a policy. This appeals to the emotional side of the audience because they are able to perceive the effect of slavery even in the young children. This successful use of pathos to draw the emotions of the reader into sympathizing with Douglass to support his argument in the fact that slavery is unjust, and wrong. The best example of pathos is seen when he describes the whipping of his brother that occurred in front of his eyes.
This incident occurs on page sixty –three, where he describes “took my little brother by the throat, threw him on the ground, and with the heel of his boot stamped upon his head till the blood gushed from his nose and ears”(63).
This is the epitome of pathos because the reader is able to visualize this beating of a brother where Douglass was forced to witness but could not retaliate due to the fear that has been instilled inside of him by the inhumane practice of slavery.
This visualization allows the reader to feel the fear and the frustration that Douglass felt at that time, which reinforces Douglass’s point that slavery is unjust because it allows the readers to sympathize with Douglass’s situation. Fredrick Douglass succeeded in effectively using pathos to provoke the emotions of the reader. This use of pathos also enabled him to persuade the audience’s mindset into that which agreed with his own. Throughout the book, although Douglass uses other techniques to convey his message, he uses pathos as his main tool in expressing his main idea.
The Essay on Douglass Slaves Slave Slavery
Fredrick Douglass was a former slave, talented writer and outspoken abolitionist. Douglass was a slave from Tuckahoe, Maryland who fled to New York and than later on to Massachusetts. He was born into slavery and was officially sent to a plantation to work at the age of seven. Prior to working in the fields he, as well as other slave children, was raised by an older woman. This was commonplace for ...
