Journal #15

Michelle Romero
English 48A
Dr. Scott Lankford

Author: Frederick Douglass


"Slavery proved as injurious to [Mrs. Auld] as it did to me. When I went there, she was a pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman....Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities" (2088).

Another observation Douglass makes is of the change in Mrs. Auld. As he describes, when he first arrived at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Auld, Mrs. Auld seemed to mother him a bit, trying to teach him to read and so forth. However, shortly after, Douglass describes her as angered and being anxious to mistreat him. His conclusion is that slavery changes people, both the slave and the slave-owner.

So much of what I read from Douglass' narrative seemed to mimic what I have noticed as a pattern in the Holocaust. Both slavery and the holocaust, to me seem to be psychological wars. In this case, we see Mrs. Auld hardening herself and working through the initial shock of having to be mean to the slaves. Likewise, there are several examples of German soldiers who found themselves having to harden their hearts as well in order to carry out the brutality of mass murder. Both Mrs. Auld and some of the German soldiers (at lower ranks) found themselves to be victims of their circumstances just as the victims had been. This is what Douglass is pointing out.

In addition, Douglass shows how Mrs. Auld lost her "heavenly" qualities. In a less direct way, he is pointing to the un-Christian nature of slavery, which contradicts perhaps what the Christian southerners believed about slavery. Douglass suggests that slavery degrades even a Christian's good character and causes them to lower themselves to the savage cruelty of animals.

I also think, as I said in class, that part of what might have turned Mrs. Auld against the slaves was her own pent-up frustrations toward her husband. Since rape was such a common act for a slave-owner to participate in with his slaves, I think that his wife would have definitely been angry and resentful had she known. I also think that many of the women of this time, did know, not matter how much they wished they didn't. I also think that it was not appropriate for them to challenge their husbands, so instead many of them hardened themselves the way Mrs. Auld is seen doing here and turned the hate toward the slaves as the cause. I would be interested in reading from the white woman's perspective during this time.