Frederick Douglass dances around the idea of learning and knowledge being a curse to a limited extent. He mentions this briefly in between his escape attempt and his actual escape. Though knowledge was the tool he used to facilitate his escape, he suffered from the fact that he was given all of these ideas and could do nothing but wait for the opportune moment to implement them. As his master, Mr. Auld, said, “…it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy” (528). To a certain extent, Mr. Auld was right. Douglass was unhappy. The ideas he read in newspapers about running away stuck in his mind. He learned that knowledge, while powerful, would make him miserable. He could not go back to being an ignorant slave like those around him. Instead, he had to act upon the ideas he read about, an act that would lead him to freedom.
Struggling with this newfound knowledge of reading and writing, Douglass felt obligated to help those slaves around him. With that, he knows he must censor how he escaped so that it would not possibly stop others from using the same means. This censorship goes with knowledge being a curse because it does not allow Douglass the chance to give his full story; instead having to leave parts out because of this knowledge could lead to further problems for others. Douglass also had to bare the burden of not being able to free those who were around him, though he was perfectly capable of the problem solving required doing just that.
While knowledge is the tool that Douglass uses to escape, it also hinders him. The ideas once formed in his mind from newspapers and books would not simply go away. Instead tormenting him to the point of wanting to die instead of being a slave anymore.
Frederick Douglass dances around the idea of learning and knowledge being a curse to a limited extent. He mentions this briefly in between his escape attempt and his actual escape. Though knowledge was the tool he used to facilitate his escape, he suffered from the fact that he was given all of these ideas and could do nothing but wait for the opportune moment to implement them. As his master, Mr. Auld, said, “…it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy” (528). To a certain extent, Mr. Auld was right. Douglass was unhappy. The ideas he read in newspapers about running away stuck in his mind. He learned that knowledge, while powerful, would make him miserable. He could not go back to being an ignorant slave like those around him. Instead, he had to act upon the ideas he read about, an act that would lead him to freedom.
Struggling with this newfound knowledge of reading and writing, Douglass felt obligated to help those slaves around him. With that, he knows he must censor how he escaped so that it would not possibly stop others from using the same means. This censorship goes with knowledge being a curse because it does not allow Douglass the chance to give his full story; instead having to leave parts out because of this knowledge could lead to further problems for others. Douglass also had to bare the burden of not being able to free those who were around him, though he was perfectly capable of the problem solving required doing just that.
While knowledge is the tool that Douglass uses to escape, it also hinders him. The ideas once formed in his mind from newspapers and books would not simply go away. Instead tormenting him to the point of wanting to die instead of being a slave anymore.