The Civilized and Self-Cultured Black Man Essay -- Narrative Life Fred

The educate and Self-Cultured Black ManIn memoir of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, scripted by Himself, Frederick Douglass faces the problem of detailing his transformation from striver to hu musical composition in a manner which is acceptable to both his audience and his own authorial purpose. Douglass must walk the thin line between being properly and being threatening to his white audience. He attempts to avoid becoming a threat by appropriating the image of a self-made man, as delimitate in William E. Channings essay entitled Self-Culture. Douglass constructs his manhood in terms of civilization, a tactic later employed by Ida B. Wells in her anti-lynching campaign. Although forcible strength and the escape from civilization into the wilderness was an equally popular anatomical structure of manhood at the time, Douglass follows Channings belief that true manhood is achieved through knowledge, the command of letters and cultivation of manners. This con ception of masculinity centers around moral law and self-control as a means of suppressing passions and desires, the latter being something that just about of Douglass masters lacked. If civilization indicates manhood, then the brutal masters described in Narrative are not men at all. This reversal makes Douglass, the slave turned self-cultured man, a archetype of true manhood. According to Channing, every man has the potential to be a great man. Through self-culture, and the resulting moral and intellect growth, men can expand and live up their potentials, becoming rarefied men. Channing understands moral sense as the suppression of passions and desires that are inherent in human nature, only if are not good for soul.When a man looks into himself, he discovers...d... ... image of this civilized man is reinforced by Douglass taradiddle voice which takes on the Harvard style tone, that sounds much like Channings voice in Self-Culture. This tactic may have been to support his use of Channings ideas, but it to a fault gave Douglass the unique position of speaking in the same style as his audience. This would perhaps be unexpected by his white Northern audience, but nevertheless reinforces Douglass civility. By taking popular conceptions of civilization, self-control and literacy, and applying them to himself, Douglass invents in himself the representation of true manhood.Works CitedChanning, William E. The Works of William E. Channing. Boston American Unitarian Association, 1875.Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written By Himself. New York Penguin Books USA Inc., 1968.