Autobiography- "My Bondage, My Freedom"

[Ms. Knarr]

Please read the passage found on page 353 in your textbooks.

Remember you cannot use questions from the textbook!

[Katie Mustillo]

1. I think the overall meaning of the poem is that all slave owners are not evil, but the problem is what the slaves think of their masters. Mrs. Auld treated Douglass with much respect and love as she would if he were her own son in the beginning of the story. Then she began to be resentful towards him and angry at him. This may have been because she felt he wasn't trying to learn with her, but he only read books and tried to write by himself which may have made her feel that he was being spiteful towards her. This upset her because she was treating him so nicely, but he wouldn't try to meet her halfway. Also another clue that it was all in his head is that all the white boys he was friends with said that they do not believe slavery is right. He then began reading the "Columbian Orator" which gave him the mindset that the masters were taking away his freedom and that they were all bad and he should stand up to them. This wasn't happening in his household, but he felt it was and this made him want to do exactly what happened in the story. He felt that what happened in the story was starting to happen to him and he wouldn't allow it; he wouldn't let them take away his chance at freedom, but in reality that wasn't really happening. Throughout the story, he uses a lot of figurative speech and he refers to other stories in his writing. For example, he refers to the Bible story (Numbers 22:21-35). In conclusion, it's saying that sometimes people don't follow what they think, but they follow what they see going on around them and they do the same even if it isn't the right choice or the best thing to do.
2. My reaction to the piece would be that I liked it because it was interesting. It was someone who actually was telling their life story to you in another story. I really liked the passage that they picked because it was so detailed and it stirred up a lot of thoughts and emotions as you read it. While I was reading it, I felt bad for Mrs. Auld along with Douglass and all the other slaves in the world. It really made you think who the bad person really was in the story. At first I was thinking that it was the masters who were the bad ones, but then as I kept reading I realized that it wasn't, but it was really what other people saw and were doing that made Douglass do and think the same thing even though it wasn't right. It struck me in a different way and made me think of it differently. I really liked the way he wrote and told the story because it made you think about it and try to think of everything about it and all the outcomes. It was really good and I enjoyed it.
3. Questions
1. Why do you think Mrs. Auld started treating Douglass differently? Explain.
2. Do you think that Douglass was afraid to go on with them the way it was at the house? Explain.
3. Do you think that his masters were really going to do what the other master did to his slave in the book or were it all in Douglass’ mind? Explain.
4. Do you believe that Douglass' masters were really going to take away his personal freedom or were they just trying to help him? Why or why not?
5. Discuss the concept of good vs. evil.

[Ms. Knarr]

(Answering Question 5)- I find the concept of good and evil fascinating in this text. When we discuss slavery in History class, we tend to look at the slave owners as the ultimate "bad guys." While that is sometimes the case, there were instances of slave owners that weren't evil, like Douglass' "owners." Yes, they believed in owning a human being, but they did educate him which is much more than other owners did for their slaves. So I believe what Douglass is really saying about good and evil is that the concept of slavery is evil, because it is not natural to have this relationship. He explains that one needs to learn how to own slaves because it is a human construct. So this human creation is what is evil, not the person themselves. Showing the young white boys react the way they do to Douglass shows this. As children, we are born innocent, but we are taught to hate and to exert power over one another.

Question: Why does Douglass refrain from naming those white friends of his when he was growing up? What does that tell us about the society in Maryland at the time?

[Katie Mustillo]

1. I 100% agree with you Ms. Knarr because that's exactly what I thought and was trying to say. They're not always the bad guys which is misunderstood a lot. Douglass' owners did much more for him than a lot of other masters did for their slaves. I totally agree that he is saying the concept of slavery is evil. Yes that is a good point that children are taught to hate because one still sees it in society today.
2. Douglass refrains from naming the white friends he had because during that time if they were found being friends with a black kid they would be in serious trouble. It was not proper for white people to have contact with black people like that especially in a slave state like Maryland. If you did not believe slavery was right and you lived in a slave state, you had to keep it to yourself or you'd be in a lot of trouble. You could possibly be killed. He wanted to protect them. This tells us that Maryland's society was very strict on the idea that slavery was right and no one should go against it or there'd be serious consequences.
My question: Do you think Douglass looked at his masters as parents and that's why he acted the way he did and did some of the things he did?