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)

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)

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