Reading Response FDouglass -Savannah

Part 1

Question-What does Douglass mean when he says that “learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (paragraph 5)?  Furthermore, what does he mean when he says that “freedom…was ever present to torment me” (same paragraph)?  In other words, is there a downside to becoming literate?  What might that be?

I think what Douglass is trying to say about learning being a curse is that now that he can read, he is seeing deeper meaning. It’s as if it opened his eyes more to what being a slave really is and how enslavers forcefully brought people into the life of slavery. If it wasn’t for the enslaver stealing people from the motherland, they would have grown to hold little substance that would come with maturity. I would say for the second saying he is trying to say that the freedom of learning how to read had brought him to be aware of how much lesser of a person he is considered. That freedom of the knowledge that all white people are getting is one of many things black people aren’t allowed.

Part 2

“I went one day down on the wharf of Mr. Waters; and seeing two Irishmen unloading a scow of stone, I went, unasked, and helped them. When we had finished, one of them came to me and asked me if I were a slave. I told him I was. He asked, ” Are ye a slave for life?” I told him that I was. The good Irishman seemed to be deeply affected by the statement. He said to the other that it was a pity so fine a little fellow as myself should be a slave for life. He said it was a shame to hold me. They both advised me to run away to the North; that I should find friends there, and that I should be free.” (Paragraph 7)

When reading this part of the paragraph, I felt as though Douglass was very hesitant because he didn’t know the true intentions of the Irishmen. It was almost as if they were saying it with bad intentions for him. But with what they were saying, it was like there would be more opportunities in the North. That him being locked away was an absolute waste of the potential that they had seen in him. The fact that he was so kind to help the men when he didn’t have to or that he wasn’t asked or told.