Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass uses diction, imagery, and sarcasm to convey to his audience the dehumanizing effects that slavery has on the slave and slave-owners. At the beginning of the passage, Douglass states that he can now "give dates" which symbolizes the mentality of the slave-owners who prohibit slaves from being literate. These slave-owners intend to keep their slaves ignorant and subservient to them. As Douglass describes the treatment from the slave-owners to their slaves, he illustrates to his northern, Christian audience the lack of respect these slave-owners have for themselves and for the Christian beliefs they misconstrue.

When Douglass lives with Master Thomas, he explains the suffering he undergoes due to the insufficient amount food he received. Douglass and his counterparts were reduced to "begging and stealing" food from their neighbors. This would immediately strike a red flag in the minds of his northern audience because they would view that behavior as violating one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shall not steal." Douglass specifically uses the words "begging and stealing" in order to have his audience empathize the "wretched" condition they were in due to the inconsiderate acts of their master. With this diction, Douglass stresses that their last resort was defying God, because their master would not give him enough food to eat.

He also uses imagery in order for his audience to understand the suffering of a slave. He refers to himself and the slaves as "poor creatures" who have "been nearly perishing with hunger, when food lay mouldering in abundance in the safe and smoke-house" to generate an image of misery in the audience's mind. He purposefully depicts himself and the other slaves as "creatures" to garner pity from his audience because of their Christian beliefs. Douglass knows that his northern, Christian audience believes that all of God's "creatures" should be well fed and treated with respect. Douglass bluntly shows that because of the inhumanity of slavery, God's plans are being mocked and openly disregarded.

Lastly, Douglass uses sarcasm to explain how the slave-owners would misinterpret Christianity. The "pious mistress was aware of the fact" that Douglass and the other slaves suffered because of the scarce amount of food they were given even though there was more than enough food in storage. Even so, she and her husband "would kneel every morning, and pray that God would bless them in basket and store." Douglass's usage of sarcasm is seen when he describes the mistress as "pious," meaning virtuous or moral. This simultaneously brings his audience to a realization that the mistress was the exact opposite of that. The mistress and her husband presented themselves to God as if they were the ones suffering from hunger, when in fact they were causing their slaves