The Importance of Education in The Life of Frederick Douglas

Despite the fact that the expression "knowledge is power"has been used continuously till it has now become somewhat cliché, there is still a lot of evidence to prove that this statement has been and still is dependably valid. Indeed, even today, one cannot help but see the impact and significance that having an education has had on the lives of many people. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that one might say that education is indeed the key to bettering a person’s life. A typical example of how education has been portrayed as the key to life’s opportunities is in the text the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, which is an autobiography of an American Slave. This firsthand record portrays to the reader a typical example of how an individual rose from being a slave with nothing to his name to a liberated man through the help of his education. By reading through this book and its sequence of events, a reader is able to perceive how Douglas' hunger for freedom was first stemmed from a hunger to obtain knowledge which in the long run furnished him with the necessary strength to run away from his enslavement.

Douglas’s narrative instantly begins by him describing his frustrations as a child. He explains how as a child he does not have the capacity to know something as basic as his own date of birth. As Douglas describes, this lack of what supposed to be seemingly basic and personal information “was a source of great unhappiness to me even during childhood” as he tried to understand why all the white children could easily know their ages whereas he was the only one “deprived of the same privilege” (Douglas 1182). Douglas’s thirst for knowledge was then further intensified when his mistress offered him his first and only real chance to learn. She begins to teach him the ABCs but unfortunately as fate would have it, her husband, Mr. Auld, prohibits these lessons. He is quoted as claiming that “learning would spoil the best nigger in world…It [learning to read] would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it would do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy” (1196). Luckily though, this set of statements did put a stop to the lessons. On the contrary, they drastically increased Douglas’s yearning to continue learning as he was then able to see the connection between getting an education and a chance at gaining freedom. According to Douglas, it is at this point that he has a revelation that “called into existence an entirely new train of thought…from that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (1197). He says that by observing the adamancy with which Mr. Auld voiced his concerns against him learning to read, Douglas became positive that learning to read was indeed of great importance. The idea was then further strengthened by Mr. Auld’s wife actions. According to Douglas, her greatest fear was finding him with a newspaper. In his own words, Douglas says that “she [his mistress] seemed to think that here lay the danger” and her strict prohibition and constant show of anger at finding Douglas with a book “fully revealed her apprehension” (1198). As a result, it further became clear to Douglas that his education was what held the answer to his freedom since it seemed to be what his owners feared the most.

In spite of the fact that Douglas was no longer receiving any form of formal instruction, he was more than determined to continue learning come what may. He was lucky to gain help from the poor white children; he would give them bread in exchange for knowledge. It was through these children that he succeeded in learning to read. At around the same time, Douglas came across “The Columbian Orator,” a book collection of poems, dialogues, and essays that would change his thirst from that of learning to that of freedom. It is through this book, which had several anti-slavery arguments, that Douglas was finally able to voice and argue his thoughts on the injustice of slavery.

Nevertheless, though this new level knowledge and understanding “relieved off one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which [he] was relieved”. This was especially because he grew to “abhor and detest [his] enslavers” (1199). From this experience, Douglas came to learn that with knowledge comes truth and, being that his own truth was that of a “wretched condition,” he would at times view learning to read as a curse instead of a blessing (1200). Though these ideas and passions made Douglas’s daily struggles a bit more difficult at that time, they instilled in him a notion that he was now never going to forget and would forever aim to achieve: freedom.

Nevertheless, Douglas came to the realization that freedom was not yet possible at that very moment freedom. He, therefore, continued working hard so as to achieve an education; this is what he considered the next best thing.  With time, the only thing Douglas seemed to have was a passion for education and he, therefore, wished to pass this on to his fellow slaves. As a result, he started something close to a clandestine Sabbath school. Though all of his “recruited students and scholars” were at risk of receiving atrocious punishments, Douglas stated that they “came because they wished to learn” as “their minds had been starved by their cruel masters” (1219). Through this process, Douglas was working towards instilling in his fellow slaves the same amount of passion for learning (and therefore hope for freedom) as he had in him. In Douglas’ own words, his school was a source of inspiration for many of his fellow slaves as he explains that “I [Douglas] had the happiness to know, that several of those slaves who came to Sabbath school learned how to read; and that one, at least, is now free through my agency” (1219). It is from here, the Sabbath school and observation of the other slaves wanting to learn, that Douglas was able to gain the last bit of determination and strength that he needed to escape. In the end, despite one failed attempt, he was finally able to escape from slavery.

In conclusion, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas is a typical example of how education has been portrayed as the key to life’s opportunities. This firsthand record portrays to the reader a how a Douglas rose from being a slave with nothing to his name to a liberated man through the help of his education. From the narration, Douglas is a clear illustration of the phrase “knowledge is power.” In this regard, it has become clear that indeed education is a tool or passage to freedom.

Works Cited

Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas, an American slave. Random House Digital, Inc., 2000.