Auld’s teachings, he forbade it because it was considered unsafe and unlawful for a master to teach a slave how to read. Douglass recalls him forcefully saying that “Learning would spoil …show more content…
The songs speak volumes, not from any one perspective but as an expression of the collective pain experienced. In the same way, Douglass’ work is a tale not solely of his own pain and suffering, but an account as objective as possible from an autobiographical standpoint of the inexplicable horrors of slavery. The story is told in such a way as to give him maximum credibility as an author, for example through his honesty in admitting that he does not know his name or his exact birthplace, and his simultaneous effort to give as much detail as possible. Frederick Douglass, as a sole voice for slaves, needed to an account honest and eloquent enough to appeal to those on the fence about emancipation. His care in his word choice to appeal to all audiences is evident throughout the memoir. He compares treatment from different masters with honesty, but even the masters that treated him the most fairly are never singled out as “good slave owners”. As soon as he receives “a powerful vindication of human rights” (47), from Sheridan’s mighty speeches, he felt as though “the silver trump of freedom had