Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Throughout history the use of language and rhetoric as a facilitator of power, and subsequently oppression, has proven to be an effective and useful tool.  The penetrating power of words has the ability to construct and reinforce the notions of superiority and inferiority, power and oppression, hope and despair, through the most common form of communication available-language.  In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass these very notions are constructed, reinforced, and made manifest through the dichotomous rhetoric of both slave owner and slave.  Through his narrative, Frederick Douglass provides several accounts of the oppressive nature of the slave owner’s rhetoric, reinforced by the language of Christianity.  Douglass, in turn, takes a hold of this language not natively his own, and uses it to empower his mind and ultimately undo his fate.  Through this reversal of the oppressive powers of language, a metaphor can be drawn between the utilization of violence and language as a means oppression and empowerment.  Douglass grasps on to both of these tools and fuses them together to instill within himself a burning sense of rage and want of freedom.