Braiden Wills Wills 1

Mrs. Bouch
Honors English 11
16 March 2018
Knowledge is Power in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Throughout life, one of the major questions people try desperately to find the

answer to is, “How can a person gain power?” Some people spend their entire lives seeking

power for whatever reason, but are never fulfilled. In Frederick Douglass’s The Narrative of the

Life of Frederick Douglass, the pathway to power is knowledge. As a slave, Douglass

experiences the most extreme lack of power and freedom that can be imaginable. In response to

this, he comes to the conclusion that knowledge is power and dedicates his life to educating

himself. In his autobiography, Douglass develops the theme that knowledge is power through the

structure of the events in the narrative, quoting others, and through the use of irony.

Frederick Douglass develops the theme of “Knowledge is Power” through the

order of events that occur which makes up the structure of the narrative. The order of events

presented in the narrative proves to be crucial to the end result which is Douglass’s gaining

freedom from slavery. Three significant events occur in a specific order within the narrative that

leads to Douglass’s freedom. Firstly, Douglass is deprived of knowledge by his slaveholders. As

a child, Douglass tells the reader that he is not told who his father is or what his birthday is.

Douglass says, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record

containing it...it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus

ignorant” (Douglass 19). This deprivation of knowledge bothers Douglass and prompts him to

seek knowledge in the future. Douglass’s deprivation of knowledge leads to him eventually
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picking up a book and reading. Before he is able to read, however, he is ordered to leave his old

plantation and live with Mr. Hugh Auld in Baltimore. This proves to be an eye-opening and

enlightening experience for Douglass, in which he is exposed to a different lifestyle compared to

slavery on the plantation which he is used to. Douglass says that “Going to live in Baltimore laid

the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity” (Douglass 46). In

Baltimore, Douglass is given an introductory education on reading by Mrs. Auld, which is a

turning point in Douglass’s life. After overhearing Mr. Auld tell Mrs. Auld to stop teaching

Douglass how to read, he comes to the conclusion that reading is the tool he will use to escape

slavery. Douglass says, “Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set

out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read”

(Douglass 48). With this motivation, Douglass goes on to achieve his goal. These events occur in

this respective order, and for an important reason. The reason is that the order of these events

show how necessary it is for Douglass to gain knowledge prior to his escape from slavery. The

order of events in the narrative goes to show that knowledge equals power for Douglass.

Another way Douglass develops this theme throughout his book is through

quoting others. By quoting slaveholders, Douglass shows that slaveholders at this time keep

slaves ignorant in order to better control them. This fact makes it apparent that slaves having

knowledge is threatening to slaveholders and the entire system of slavery. In chapter four, Mr.

Auld, one of Douglass’s masters, says, “Learning will spoil the best nigger in the world”

(Douglass 48). Douglass believes that Mr. Auld thinks this because learning destroys the

ignorance that slaveholders so desperately want slaves to be engulfed with. Mr. Auld also says,

“A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master-to do what he is told to do…He would at
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once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (Douglass 48). Hearing this from Mr.

Auld gives Douglass the motivation to educate himself. This quote goes to show that

slaveholders feared that if slaves become too knowledgeable, they would become more difficult

to control. Douglass quotes his slaveholders to show the reader that knowledge must equal

power, which slaves can use to overthrow the system of slavery.

Douglass develops the theme that knowledge equals power through irony,

which not only is seen in certain instances, but is also present throughout the entire book. As a

slave, Douglass is deprived of knowledge and kept completely separated from the world outside

of slavery by his slaveholders. The system of slavery is dependent upon slaves being ignorant to

the truth of how life really should be for them. In his autobiography, Douglass shows how he

does the complete opposite of what he has been forced to do throughout his entire life as a slave,

which is to become educated. The irony of the story lies in the fact that Douglass overhears Mr.

Auld say that slaves are to never be taught how to read, yet Douglass commits his entire life to

learning how to read, making sacrifices along the way. Douglass’s story is ironic because he

defies the odds and goes against the overarching system of slavery by educating himself, when

other slaves are kept ignorant. Douglass is not a slave in the sense that he has self-awareness and

a hunger for knowledge and growth, yet he is technically a slave in a physical sense. Douglass

develops the theme that knowledge is power through the use of irony.

In Frederick Douglass’s life, he is held down by the shackles of slavery and

kept ignorant by his slaveholders. In response to his helpless state, Douglass decides that

knowledge is the key to power and freedom. After this, he dedicates his entire life to educating

himself in order to make something of himself. The theme of knowledge is power should be
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adopted by and incorporated into the lives of all people. In order to find meaning in life as

Douglass does, people must commit themselves to learn and improve themselves constantly. The

theme Douglass develops is universal because as it applies to Douglass, it also applies to today.

Go out and challenge others to always gain knowledge, because in life, knowledge equals power.