One question to be considered when reading Douglass's narrative is whether he is a good example of an Faustian, individual, striving hero. Is he more victor or more victim?
We pick back up the narrative after Douglass returned to the plantation after the death of one of the owners. He laments the poor condition of his grandmother with simple, repetitive language. It is suggested that Douglass has a preoccupation with manhood and power and that the limited role of women in the story creates a disconnect between his narrative and women. This is related to the question of who is being represented by Douglass's story. Who is represented? Who is excluded from the representation?
Dr. Jarratt then considered the narrative's force as a testament or as a kind of documentation. In Ch. I, we read about the sexual violation of women and the difficulty of forging bonds for slaves. Later in Ch. X, he discusses a slave being bought to breed. In Ch. II, we get a description of life in the fields. It is a life of bare survival and constant work. In Ch. III, he describes the hunger and constant threat of violence. In Ch. VI, he focuses on the lack of legal protection.
One of his most striking rhetorical strategies is to talk about slaves as if they are animals. Slaves were dehumanized systematically. Also, slaves were divided by prejudice and judgment among the hierarchy imposed on them. Douglass also talks about the dehumanizing effects on the slave-owners as well, as Sophia Auld became nasty and mean to him after being exposed to slavery.
In Chapter X, we get the story of how Douglass has to overcome the slave breaker, Covey. He is sent to the slave breaker after it becomes apparent to his owner, Thomas, that he is not adapted to field work. In this chapter, he first finds himself broken in body and spirit, feeling like an animal himself. He tries to convince his owner to abandon slavery, but is unsuccessful. He then encounters other slaves who are his peers, such as Sandy Jenkins. He also begins to think of himself as one slave among many, and claims that he can "bear as much as any of them" (84).
How do the two preceding paragraphs show different facets of representation in Douglass's narrative?
From here on, he makes more of an effort to forge bonds with other slaves. He describes intense love and a feeling of being connected to other slaves (95). He also taught other slaves to read (94). Then he went back to Baltimore, where he worked with free and enslaved blacks together. Still, in such a place, white carpenters in particular were violent against blacks and the idea of abolitionism. As he moves closer to his own escape plan, he also gains more freedom with his time and actions. He makes a lot of money, but of course cannot keep any for himself, but he does go on strike in a way (109-110). He speculates that many slaves do not escape because they are too strongly bound to their fellow slaves (110).
Once escaped and in the North, Douglass is still taxed by challenges. He feels insecure and lonely. He tries to get the reader to sympathize with him. He notices generous and prosperous black people in the North, but he still has problems getting a job as a caulker. He then turns toward the political cause of abolitionism. He tells us of "another kind of freedom" when speaking in front of people.
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