FREE ESSAY ON FREDERICK DOUGLASS CHARACTER SKETCH

FREDERICK DOUGLASS CHARACTER SKETCH

Frederick Douglass Character Sketch
Final Draft
Frederick Douglass' personality is shown in a few different ways in The Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass. His book was an in-depth look into the life of a slave in the
mid 1800's. It helped people get a better view of how slaves were treated, on gave fuel
to the Abolitionist fire. Frederick Douglass' Narrative was a first person historical
account of slavery. Since it is an account written by him, it helps us today to see
slavery without exaggeration or Government re-written history books. This book is also a
documentation of Douglass' life. So it gives us a good look at Douglass' thoughts,
feeling, and personality. Frederick Douglass' character is comprised mainly of his
independence, his perseverance, and his intelligence.
Throughout the book, Frederick Douglass shows himself to be independent. Young Frederick
took it upon himself to learn how to read. Even though he received help from the local
children's books, he really did the teaching himself, which is something that he couldn't
do unless he had independence. When Douglass got into the fight at the docks, he took on
the whole group alone. Had he gotten the help of other slaves there, he might not have
been hurt so horribly. The book, of course, leads to his literal independence: his escape
from slavery. Douglass' whole life leads up to his escape, from he day he learns to read
until the fight with Mr. Covey. Throughout his life, Douglass acted independently, but it
was his perseverance that was a big factor in his escape.
Perseverance was another one of Douglass' good character building qualities. Even as he
was independently learning to read, he had to persevere to make sure that he actually
did. Since he could only get lessons during his free time, it took him awhile to learn to
read; so if he hadn't persevered throughout this period, he never would have learned.
Another example of the perseverant nature of Frederick Douglass was during the time in
which he held his Sabbath school, helping other slaves to learn to read. Douglass never
knew if the slaves were ever going to become free, so he didn't know if all his efforts
would be worth it; but he kept with it and eventually some slaves did learn to read, and
maybe it helped them to escape. His persistence paid off in the long run for Douglass
when it helped him to escape the confines of slavery. After waiting many months, having
an attempt foiled, waiting more, planning, and more waiting, he escaped and it was all
thanks to his persistence, waiting, and planning. However, Douglass might not have been
so persistent if he wasn't intelligent enough to know what he was doing.
Frederick Douglass accomplished a lot in his life thanks to his intelligence. It seems
that one of the really defining times of Douglass' character is his learning to read,
because this also could not have been accomplished without the intelligence that
Frederick Douglass commanded. Since most slaves were never educated, it's hard to judge
his intelligence in relation to other slaves, however in comparing Douglass to an average
white slave owner, Douglass comes out to be really smart, since I doubt Douglass' master
could have taught himself to read. Douglass was also the formulator of at least two
escape plans, which is an extremely difficult task. Douglass' first plan would have
worked, but the escapees were betrayed, and his second plan was a success. Late in his
life, Douglass became a diplomat. The government wouldn't have given him that job if they
didn't think he was both qualified and intelligent enough for the job. Since Douglass'
made it pretty far in life, it seems safe to say that he was not only an intelligent man,
but showed a few other good character traits as well.
Douglass' independence, perseverance, and intelligence are character traits that he had
in abundance. Douglass wrote a good book, and it was a true story. That means that he
didn't exaggerate his best qualities to make himself look better. Narrative of the Life
of Frederick Douglass, and Douglass' life afterwards, shows that one man can make a
difference. In fact, his book probably changed the life of any person that read it when
it was released, with slavery still in abundance. Had every man, woman, and child in the
United States read this when it was published, things certainly could have been
different. The prejudice that is still around even today might be significantly less had
the slaveholders realized that their slaves were people, not property. Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass was an important work, and also gave much insight into the
character of one of the most famous slaves to date.