Frederick Douglass and His Slave-Holders

It is quite obvious that most slaves are not treated well by their slaveholders. “I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip.” There are many accounts of these beatings in Douglass’s narrative. He also tells of rape, murder, and other horrible incidences in his experience as a slave. He recalls one of his masters, Master Andrew, “a man who, but a few days before, to give me a sample of his bloody disposition, took my little brother by the throat, threw him on the ground, and with the heel of his boot stamped upon his head till the blood gushed from his nose and ears.” Douglass does an interesting job of showing the range of slaveholders that he has by comparing them with Christianity. He shows how the slaveholders try to justify their actions by hiding behind Christianity. As a slaveholder is whipping a young woman, he quotes scripture by saying, “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” Douglass shows one slaveholder that named Mr. Covey. Mr. Covey is a prime example of a slaveholder’s faith being affected by slaveholding. It seems like Covey is a very devout man, and he puts up the cover that he is extremely religious. His actions, however, do not agree with the evangelic perception that he has of himself. He even was “said to have been guilty of compelling his woman slave to commit the sin of adultery.”

It seems like Douglass sees slaveholding as something that corrupts humans. When Douglass is moved to a new mistress, he says that she was “a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings.” She had never had slaves before, so she had never been corrupted by it. Douglass tells how a woman with good, Christian morals can turn into a completely different woman under the influence of slaveholding. “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”

            Douglass had had a good connection with the woman early in their relationship. She helped him learn to read and taught him the A, B, C’s. She even helped him learn to spell small words. It wasn’t until later in their relationship, after she got some experience as a slaveholder, that she became a mean-spirited woman. Douglass compares the different slave-owners he had by showing how their Christian morals lined up. He shows the range of how they start: sometimes as nice and sometimes as mean, and the similarities on how they end up.

Lindeman

This trip, unlike Thoreau’s trip to Walden, did not even cost me 28 dollars. All I had to do was walk a few yards outside my door. Perhaps this is the reason I couldn’t quite enjoy the experience like Thoreau did. I like the idea of the pond, but it is far from solitude. I could hear the cars on the road and see the parking lot and campus. It didn’t even smell like “fresh air.” As someone who grew up on a farm and has spent hours hunting and wandering in the woods, Lindeman Pond just feels like a shell of nature. It is hard for me to see it as the real thing. Even so, I tried to make the best of the opportunity. I enjoyed certain aspects of my walk around the pond. Any time I am able to get out of the confines of a dorm room or buildings on campus it is a good time. The air is fresher outside at least. I stood on my head, which was actually a really neat experience. I can see why Thoreau and Emerson wrote about it. Something so familiar, when seen from a totally different angle, is something entirely new.

It is hard for me to try and understand Thoreau’s technique. As someone who is balancing all of my classes, sports, friends, and family, it is difficult to understand just writing about my experience of living and walking in the woods. I can see how Thoreau found his solitary, simple life refreshing. I wish I would have read Thoreau back when I was a kid wandering around and exploring the woods behind my house. I think I appreciated it more back then, when I wasn’t worried about doing homework or other things.

I mentioned earlier that it was hard for me to see Lindeman Pond as a real piece of nature when I’ve spent so much time out in what I see as the real woods. Just because I feel this way doesn’t mean I think everyone feels that way. Lindeman Pond is more of a pond than my roommate, who is from Las Vegas, has ever seen. Thoreau would probably think that what I see as real is nothing. Everything is relative. I definitely think that taking a walk in any form of nature is refreshing, and can see why Thoreau wanted to live there.

Emerson Inspirational Quote Pictures

For this first inspirational poster, I was obviously going for a parody. A frozen Jack Nicholson isn't the most inspirational thing in the world. In fact, I wasn't even really thinking about inspiration with this one. I read the passage and my mind immediately went to this picture. However, I do think the quote has value, even if it isn't necessarily for inspiration. The idea that man is on the brink of our goals is illustrated by this morbid analogy. I suppose some inspiration could come from that idea. Instead of metaphorically freezing to death by giving up on goals, the idea is to push through and get home. It would be a poster not for the faint of heart.

I was going for a more traditional inspirational poster with this picture and quote. The  I saw this quote while reading an knew it was one that could stand alone.In my own experience, walks in the woods or prairie are quite inspiring. One of the things I enjoy most about hunting is getting in the tree stand while it's still dark, then seeing the sun come up in the woods, away from the touch of humans. Everything just seems to come alive. It's hard not to have emotion when you see that sunrise.