Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: Its context, rhetoric, and reception

Many African Americans impacted nineteenth-century American culture, but few can be described as the "quintessential" man of this era. Frederick Douglass survived an obscure poverty-ridden childhood during slavery to emerge an international representation of the American concept of the self-made man. He uses his exceptional intellect and writing skills to elevate himself and the world's perception of the black race and concretizes his experiences in his autobiographies by emphasizing individualism and literacy as modes of self-expression. Further, he systematically posits his experiences within those of the dominant culture; hence, the reception of Douglass' first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, not only mirrors the ideological, political and social cosmology of America, but it also illustrates Narrative's impact on the development of a new genre, the generative slave narrative, wherein Douglass affirms his humanity and selfhood.;A review of slavery, abolitionism and the early major events in his life provides a basis for analyzing the effects of the cultural, political, intellectual and social climate of nineteenth-century America, which fosters the evolution of the slave narrative as a viable African American literary and historical tool and the locus by which Douglass establishes his identity and humanity within the literary tradition; further, he revises his experiences by appropriating the American concept of the "self-made" man. Like Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau and other nineteenth-century autobiographers whose compelling stories provide critical commentary on their respective cultures, Douglass critiques the American dream, which inherently embodies racial inequalities, and emphasizes literacy as the key to attaining selfhood, individualism and autonomy.;Moreover, Douglass' concept of selfhood is inextricably linked to literacy as a tool necessary for harnessing political and social power to effect change. Therefore, Douglass' narrative, autobiographical in form, transcends the parameters of the traditional slave narrative and serves extra-literary purposes; it not only provides historical verity for his experiences, but it also gives him a voice and persona by which to expose and critique an incongruent American society. The unprecedented success and reception of Narrative confirms Douglass' contribution to American literature.