History

Violence, both psychologically and physically, permeates and characterizes Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  The book is about the origination of resistance, how different forms of violence were employed to fight this resistance, and the necessity of education in maintaining a resistance posture in the face of several instances of violence. From an enforced ignorance that constituted a deliberate type of psychological violence which sought to prevent resistance from ever arising to brutal physical beatings intended to temper the resistance impulses when they did become manifest, Douglas eventually experienced through education a spiritual awakening which caused him to question the morality and the proffered justifications for slavery.  If slavery was his enemy, then violence was the primary tool employed by the enemy.  This essay will examine the central role that violence played in the Narrative more specifically, this essay will discuss the role of psychological violence, physical violence, and how these forms of violence were most clearly illustrated in the form of the slaves interactions with Mr. Covey.

Psychological Violence  Enforced Ignorance
Generally speaking, Douglass described the conditions of slave life as constituting, essentially, a world of darkness.  This darkness, in turn, was characterized by a lack of knowledge about the most mundane facts such as birthdays, by a lack of power to affect the way farms were operated or slaves employed, and by a shocking violence that attended any slaves attempt to behave in ways not specifically prescribed by the white masters.  Regarding his own origins, for example, Douglass knew very little.  He didnt know his date of birth and while he remembered his mother whom had died he wasnt sure of his fathers precise identity.  Douglas noted that this ignorance was deliberately imposed as a form of psychological warfare or violence and maintained at one point, for instance, the noted that The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it HYPERLINK httpwww.questiaschool.comPM.qstaod97002098(Douglass, 1).  The first condition of slave life was thus one of imposed ignorance.  Even where a white owner might know the facts sought by the slave, Douglass believed that these facts would not be forthcoming.  He considered this type of enforced ignorance to be one means of psychological violence through which the white masters kept the slaves ignorant, uneducated, and docile.

In addition to slaverys explicit policy of enforced ignorance, another significant condition of slave life was its extraordinarily violent nature.  It was the norm rather than the exception for masters to resort to extreme physical violence in order to encourage conformity or to punish nonconformity.  In illustrating this type of extreme physical violence, Douglass described a Mr. Plummer who was
a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster. He always went armed with a cowskin and a heavy cudgel. I have known him to cut and slash the womens heads so horribly, that even master would be enraged at his cruelty, and would threaten to whip him if he did not mind himself.  HYPERLINK httpwww.questiaschool.comPM.qstaod97002100(Douglass, 3)

Despite the occasional rebukes for excessively violent behavior, the violence never really seemed too far away.  This physical violence was used to supplement and reinforce the psychological methods of violence.

Physical Violence  Beatings and Slave Holidays as Deception
The second violent condition of slave life, as expressed so vividly in Douglasss narrative, is the constant threat of extreme and vicious physical violence.  Even the occasional master who cringed when seeing or hearing about these types of violence ultimately tended to consider such violence a necessary means for keeping the slaves in line.

An additional condition of slave life was the fact that slaves were to know their place and not to question or criticize authority.  The white owners were like all knowing gods and the blacks were like work animals.  A white owner, in this context, would no more ask his horse whether it was ready to plow the fields then he would ask a black slave struck with illness if he was ready for a sixteen hour work day with little food and little rest.  In sum, the most important conditions of the slave life articulated by Frederick Douglass in his narrative included a state of enforced ignorance, the threat of extremely vicious physical violence for nonconformity, and the equivalence of slaves to work animals.

Douglass noted that there were certain occasions in which slaves were granted a holiday.  In his case, he referenced a holiday in celebration of Christmas and New Years in which he and his family were granted some time off of work.  However, a careful reading of the text demonstrates that Douglass viewed these holidays and the attendant allowance of alcohol intake as more insidious than charitable.  His views toward these holidays represented an early formulation of his belief that there was nothing good, redeeming, or charitable about a slaves life or condition to this end, he stated that
From what I know of the effect of these holidays upon the slave, I believe them to be among the most effective means in the hands of the slaveholder in keeping down the spirit of insurrection. Were the slaveholders at once to abandon this practice, I have not the slightest doubt it would lead to an immediate insurrection among the slaves. These holidays serve as conductors, or safety-valves, to carry off the rebellious spirit of enslaved humanity.  HYPERLINK httpwww.questiaschool.comPM.qstaod97002141(Douglass, 44)

The white owners, Douglass noted, were highly suspicious and critical of any slave that didnt embrace the holidays cheerfully or engage in the sufficient drinking of whiskey.
This was part and parcel of the previously mentioned condition of slave life regarding the fact that a slave conform to expectations and know his place.  The holidays and the alcohol were designed to reinforce this conformity and serve as a technique for moderating the slaves hatred of their condition.  The violence was, as a consequence, reinforced through the granting or the withholding of such minor benefits as slave holidays.


Mr. Covey Merging of Psychological and Physical Violence
For Frederick Douglass, Mr. Covey was much more than a man.  Mr. Covey was instead the quintessentially evil face of slavery.  He was an arch type in Douglasss mind just as much as he was a human being.  It was against this arch type that Douglass battled most ferociously, both spiritually and physically.  Douglas had become a field hand for the first time and during this time he was treated more like a work animal than a human being than he had been treated at any point of his life thus far.

Douglas stated that
I lived with Mr. Covey one year. During the first six months, of that year, scarce a week passed without his whipping me. I was seldom free from a sore back. My awkwardness was almost always his excuse for whipping me. We were worked fully up to the point of endurance. Long before day we were up, our horses fed, and by the first approach of day we were off to the field with our hoes and ploughing teams. Mr. Covey gave us enough to eat, but scarce time to eat it. We were often less than five minutes taking our meals. We were often in the field from the first approach of day till its last lingering ray had left us and at saving-fodder time, midnight often caught us in the field binding blades.  HYPERLINK httpwww.questiaschool.comPM.qstaod97002133(Douglass, 36).

The irony was that Douglass had initially had a positive impression of Covey before coming to view the man as something quite akin to the devil. Despite this personal hatred, it can be argued that Mr. Coveys persistently poor treatment of Douglass led to the most important turning point in Douglass life.  Although the text offers many significant turning points, such as learning to read and write, the most important turning point was when Douglass finally stood up to Mr. Covey and refused to suffer physical beatings any longer.  Douglass reported that Mr. Covey had attempted to tie him up for a beating, that Douglass had refused, and that a two hour struggle had ensued.  Douglass prevailed and there were several important consequences.  First, he had stood up for himself physically and he reported that he was never beaten again.  He had in this way personally conquered and escaped one of the fundamental conditions of slave life previously mentioned, the extraordinarily vicious violence, and set the stage for a better future.  Second, he was subsequently sent away to another farm.  At this farm, Douglass emerged as a leader and an inspiration to other slaves.  He taught them how to read and write and he taught them what he had learned from reading books.  Having conquered his fear and his broken-slave mentality, and having emerged as a leader with a moral imperative in the form of freedom for all men despite the color of their skin, Douglass then made an escape attempt.  Although it failed, and although he spent some time in jail, his course could not be reversed.  He learned a trade, as an apprentice in a shipyard, and eventually planned and executed a successful escape to the North.  Mr. Covey, in many ways, provided the final push that transformed Frederick Douglass from a broken slave to a free man and participated in the turning point in which Douglass refused to be tied or beaten like an animal.  Mr. Covey was violence in all of its ugly forms reincarnate and it was against this ultimate manifestation of violence that the slaves will finally firmed and rebelled.

Conclusion
In the final analysis, Douglasss life illustrates how an individual quest can change the way people think and behave despite the use of violence to break resistance.  From a child born into slavery who didnt even know his birth date, he emerged into one of the worlds greatest proponents of individual dignity, freedom, and liberty.  Douglass proved that education demands a critical mind, that a critical mind can discern between truth and self-serving lies, that violence can be resisted, and that it is sometimes necessary to put beliefs to the test in the form of action.  Douglass experienced beatings, painful separations, jail, and constant hardship and, yet, he persisted and prevailed.  His persistence is perhaps just as noble as his written words.  Frederick Douglass was and remains a great inspirational figure.