Frederick Douglas and His Use of Word to Evoke Emotion

     Frederick Douglas uses diction and word order to communicate the violence and the completely inhumane nature of slavery to his readers. Douglas uses diction through his negative and aggressive words in order to communicate and evoke emotion. An example of Douglas’ use of diction can be found in chapter 2, where he says, “No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush…”(58) In this quote, Douglas describes the abuse of his aunt. Using his gory and violent wording helps to create imagery, which helps to draw emotion from readers. This is not the only description of a beating or killing that he describes, and the repetitive violent scenes create a more powerful effect and pull a reaction from his audience throughout the whole narrative.

     He uses word order to grab the attention of readers- often by starting his sentences with a word or phrase that is inhumane. His use of word order in this way is seen in chapter 1, where he says, “Death soon ended what little we could have while she lived, and with it her hardships and suffering.” (57) while describing his mother. He mentions death first, beginning the sentence with an upsetting tone of the loss of his own mother, which readers would be expected to sympathize with. Continuing on in this sentence, he shared that her hardships and suffering came to an end, but readers should remember that the only way for her to escape this was through her own death. His word order and choice explain this unending reality that enslaved people were forced to live through up until their deaths, which is an unfair escape.  

Douglas also uses a figure of speech when he compares slavery to hell. He compares more parts of his narrative to biblical figures and places, such as Job (in chapter 3.) This is likely because biblical stories would be likely known by his readers at the time. He says, “It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass.” (58) This comparison shows readers the horror that slavery is to those who know of and experience it and that Douglas knows to expect the worst.