Learning to Read and Write
... how Douglass managed to use various ways to learn how to read and write. He lived in Master Hugh’s house for about seven years and the mistress had taught him the alphabet. As he continues learning to read he is exposed more to the world around him, especially the condition of slavery. He is enthusiastic about learning how to read and calls it “that more valuable bread of knowledge”(101). After his mistress taught him his letters, he was compelled to learn more. This often times got him into trouble. “If I was in separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of myself. All this, however, was too late. The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell” (100). By this statement Douglas makes it abundantly clear of his passion to become literate. He strives from this point on to accomplish his goal of learning to read and write. As Douglass learned to read, he realized some things about what was going on in the world around him. In one book he read about how slavery started and began to hate his slave masters. He realized that slavery was a horrible situation and the hope of becoming free was dim. The following quote reveals how felt at the time; “As I read and contemplated the subject… that very discontentment had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish s I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing…I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead… ”(103). This demonstrates that reading can have a huge emotional impact on somebody. The language of the story is very formal. It’s Old English. The choice of words clearly depicts what the author is describing. In the first paragraph, for example, the words “compelled”, “stratagems”, “commenced”, “depravity”, and “indispensable” are used. Instead of using common words, more sophisticated words are chosen. “She lacked at first th...