Reading Response FDouglass- Mamadu Jalloh

Part 1-

 After the young Douglass loses his mistress as his teacher, what strategies does he practice to continue learning to read?  Who does he turn to for help?  How does he persuade them to help him?

Fredrick Douglass was very keen on learning how to read, he didn’t let his mistress loss of interest in teaching him dissuade from learning how to read. According to the text, Douglass would befriend all of the white boys he met in the streets and converted them to his reading teachers. Moreover, he would carry a book with him in whilst on an errand so he can find time for a quick lesson. In order to persuade the white children to teach him, he would carry with him enough bread in exchange for “more valuable bread of knowledge.”

Part 2-

“As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy.” Paragraph 8, Line 1

This quote is emphasis the irony in learning how to read. Once he began learning how to read it exposed the wretchedness of slavery and dreadful conditions black people were facing. This creates a feeling of sorrow as he wishes to escape this tyranny but doesn’t know how to. In some way he begins to feel envious of the other ignorant slaves who doesn’t know how to read because they were oblivious of their conditions and weren’t being mentally tormented. This shows the exact reason why white slave owners didn’t want slaves to learn how to read as they would be rebellious once they comprehend their distressing situation.