The most impactful portions of Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass are the sections where the reader can see the shift/change in Douglass's outlook on life despite his circumstances. For example, Douglass extensively discussed freedom in correlation with the development of his sense of self and masculinity. From not earning money as an enslaved person, to earning $1.50 per day, Douglass wrote about how he maintained hope for freedom and also credited those who taught him how to read and write at a young age. Furthermore, Douglass's dissatisfaction with his circumstances, before being freed, echoed through the way he wrote about the small successes in his early life. According to Douglass, he developed his sense of manhood by observing how others treated men around him, and he maintained the positive aspects, such as leadership and independence. Overall, the book is very insightful into how maintaining optimism may allow someone to beat the odds. (Allisya Smith)

Douglass' narrative explores many of the different slaveowners he encountered throughout his life, from those he knew personally to those he had only seen but never worked under. Several of these slaveholders were incredibly physically abusive in a disturbing variety of ways, like Mr. Covey's proclivity to whipping and Thomas Hamilton's extreme abuse of his slaves Henrietta and Mary. However, although Douglass notes that some of his slaveholders were far better and even “heavenly” compared to others, he still emphasizes that no amount of kind treatment from these masters ever compared to when he was finally able to become his own master. After learning how to read when he was younger, Douglass was finally able to voice the horrors of his situation, and he devotes much time throughout his narrative into explaining that even the kindest of slaveholders are still participating in a horrific system of abuse. (Noah Rutkowski)

I found the moments when Douglas discusses slaveholders in regards to Christianity. At one part he calls it literally slaveholder Christianity. The dissonance of people being unspeakably cruel and then going on to profess to be religious is jarring. Douglass mentions how he had to fear the religious slaveowners because they would be the most cruel because their religion justified their treatment. (Hannah Covin)

The beginning of Douglass’s narrative is intriguing to me because he expresses how food scarcity functions as an instrument of power to socialize the enslaves into submission. He begins by introducing his assignment to Colonel Lloyd’s plantation where labor was heavily regulated and physically demanding. This way of life enhances the likelihood of hunger, especially in the circumstance of slavery. Slaveholders knew this and used it as a method of social order by using food as discipline to both the slave and their bodies. Not only did this cause dependence and submission by adult slaves, but promoted survival behavior amongst enslaved children. These children experienced starvation, prompting them to steal food or even compete with animals for sustenance. By constricting food sources, obedience is trained and compliance is learned through suffering.(Reiley Gibson)

One of the most impactful moments in Frederick Douglass’ life comes during his time with Edward Covey. Covey did not own any property, but rented the land and the labor he used. The farmer had grown a reputation for being a “slave breaker,” someone who could destroy the spirits of any resisting enslaved person. While working under Covey, Douglas became a firsthand witness to the man’s cruelty, being repeatedly beaten into a feeble state. These repeated lashings made Douglass feel inept and like less of a man, someone who could not defend himself. On one such occasion, Douglass took the opportunity to fight back against Covey, beating him in the brawl. This occurrence made Douglass feel more in touch with his manhood. Afterwards, Covey did not lay a finger on Douglass, as he was now someone with the ability to properly defend himself. (Tanner Gillikin)

A particularly striking portion of Douglass' narrative is when he discusses his life in Baltimore under the slaveholder Hugh Auld and his wife, Sophia. Sophia, who'd never been exposed to slavery before Frederick's arrival, was initially incredibly kind to him and even sought to teach him how to read. Upon finding out, however, her husband forbade her from teaching Frederick any further, believing that learning to read was the first step to making a rebellious slave. Frederick watched as the power of owning a slave gradually corrupted Sophia, as she soon became even more violently opposed to his learning than her husband had been. Despite being forbidden to learn to read, Frederick was determined to, and he did so by offering white boys in the street bread in exchange for reading lessons. (Noah Rutkowski)

Throughout his autobiography, Douglass writes on the matter of his emerging manhood conflicting with his position as a slave. He believed he could only become a true man when he had no master above him to take it away from him. This is why he, on multiple occasions, attempted to liberate himself and his enslaved compatriots. In 1835, he appealed to the manhood of 2 of his fellow enslaved men to try to escape at least once in their lives. Without at least one good attempt at escape, all they would know is submission, and how could they call themselves real men if that were the case? For Douglass, masculinity and liberty were two traits inherently interlinked. (Tanner Gillkin)

Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a strong example of performative masculinity under the conditions of slavery. According to Horton, one of the key features of African American masculinity was the ability to protect one’s family and to be independent. In this light, Douglass’s narrative illuminates the limited horizon of possibilities for performing manhood within the oppressive system of slavery. On the one hand, Douglass states that he was unable to help people he respected and loved (his brother from another slaveholder named Andrew, his inability to protect the Sabbath school, and his lack of options to support his friends after a failed escape) because of the overwhelming power exercised by slaveholders. On the other hand, Douglass asserted his masculinity through acts of resistance, such as fighting with Mr. Covey and threatening Mr. Hugh with reciprocal violence. These examples demonstrate the range of tactics available to Douglass to affirm his masculinity through the performance of strength and independence. - Nikolai Kotkov

The account of Frederick Douglass can serve as a counter-example to Elkins’s thesis of the absence of significant others and D. Black’s idea of the slaveholder as “The Man” for the enslaved people. According to the text, F. Douglass never considered slaveholders as the only available significant others on the plantation or in Baltimore. He stated that he often spent time playing, learning, and communicating with his friends, family, and even some white people (kids he played with, sympathetic Irishmen). These examples indicate not only the possibility of having multiple significant others, but also disrupt the narrative of American slavery as a “closed system.” However, it can also be argued that the case of F. Douglass is exceptional, as he spent a great amount of time in an urban environment, which is more open by definition than the plantation. - Nikolai Kotkov