Book Review #1

Book Review On "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" by Frederick Douglass

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
                                                        -Nelson Mandela

I chose this quote because it is the perfect example for this literary work. Frederick Douglass' ability to read opened his eyes to the realities of slavery. Besides, after learning how to read and by educating himself more, he understood that the ability to read was a pathway to freedom. This shows us how education can be used as a weapon to change the world. This novel is about the story of Douglass' life as a slave from childhood until he was free. Also, on how he addresses adversities of being enslaved and racial discrimination with the help of education. Douglass' main objective was to get educated and to bring an end to slavery. In the meanwhile, enhancing the society and creating equality amongst the people. This novel has enhanced the way I view things and convinced me to be grateful of everything that I have and not complain about it. According to the novel, it states slave children during that time were not told anything about their age and were separated from their mothers. In fact, Douglass was not even allowed to go to his mother's funeral nor did he know about her death until later on. This starts to make me think how some people's right are consistently being violated everyday. Yet, we still tend to complain about little unnecessary things. This type of ruthless cruelty still occurs in some parts of the world today and there is nothing to stop them.

The author mentions a lot of the things that the slaves had to confront, but the one that most significantly relates to my life is about the kinds of clothing and foods the slaves were provided. The slaves were provided with very little foods and sometimes weren't provided at all. The children were naked and had nothing to sleep on but a rough wool blanket. Looking at this event, I can learn a lot about myself because sometimes I complain to my parents about getting me a junk food and new fancy clothes. In the meanwhile, some people don't even have these things and some live their daily lives with no good clothing nor food. This makes me realize that I am very thankful to have a family, home and a variety of clothes to wear. As a result, I am starting to view things in a different perspective and by doing this, it allows me to open my eyes and see the mistakes that I make and also to think broadly. As one can see, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a very rare and unique book that gives us a view of what life was like as a black slave and making us view things in a different perspective.