“Mr. Covey took up the hickory slat with which Hughes had been striking off the half- bushel measure, and with it gave me a heavy blow upon the head, making a large wound, and the blood ran freely; and with this, again told me to get up.”
The quote above speaks for itself. It is so descriptive to the point that it makes your stomach turn. “…but the blood so matted my hair as to stop the wound. After lying there about three quarters of an hour, I nerved myself up again, and started on my way, through bogs and briers, barefooted and bareheaded, tearing my feet sometimes at nearly every step…” I feel that the imagery demonstrated in this quote is enough to make anyone’s eyes open up and realize that there was an obvious problem with slavery.
Slavery has been one of the most important issues in US History. Realists focused on the issues and problems that were going on at that time. It is obvious that The Battle with Mr. Covey is a story focusing on slavery. I think the reason the other master of the slave came into the picture was because Douglas wanted his readers to see that slaves were treated like animals and property. His other master basically said he was giving him to Mr. Covey for a year for pay. On top of that, Mr. Covey was so cruel to him.
I think that maybe Douglas wrote this story to tell people that one day, all the slaves would rebel and the outcome would be worst. The slave in the story fought his master and he was never whipped again. If all the slaves would have rebelled against their masters, the outcome might have been different. “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning- point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self- confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free.” Douglas wanted people to realize that slavery was wrong and that no human being should be treated like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment