Textual Freedom in the Lives of Frederick Douglass and Tobias Wolff.
After reading both the “Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass and “This Boys Life” by Tobias Wolff, the reader can get a feel on what freedom means to both Douglass and Tobias. While freedom might mean different things to both of them, in reality their goals are not that far apart. In my opinion both Douglass and Wolff want freedom, and strive to reach it, they never actually obtain the feeling of freedom in which they desired.
Living in the Pre-Civil War South, the ultimate goal of a slave is Freedom. In Frederick Douglass’ autobiography he tells his account of his early life, up until he ran away from his masters plantation in Maryland and found his freedom in the state of New York. The fact that Douglass’ was even able to write an autobiography was a freedom inside of itself. Not many slaves actually got the chance to escape and write their story in the ensuing years. A lot of this was based on the fact that they never received an education and after they had escaped to freedom they wanted to remain in hiding where they would never be found. Douglass’ narrative along with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Toms Cabin” was enough to change the public’s opinion on slavery.
There are a few key events that highlight freedom in the life of Frederick Douglass. One of the most important was him learning to read and write. “Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A,B,C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters” (Douglass 263). After Mr. Auld scolded Mrs. Auld for teaching Douglass how to write he realized one of the keys to freedom was literacy. He took that and set out to learn how to read from the local children. Another defining moment for Douglass was his fight with Mr. Covey. “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” (Douglass 290). This event served as a catalyst to Douglass’ escaping and finding his way to freedom.
Wolff was in a similar predicament to Douglass but in a more modern world. Wolff faced the problem of Dwight who his mother married after moving to Washington State. In many ways Dwight was a slaveholder and Tobias was a slave. This can be seen with Tobias working his paper route, and Dwight would take the money and spend it for his own personal use. Wolff always had plans of running away to Canada or some other location to get away from Dwight. He even goes as far as writing a letter to his uncle in Paris. “That night I wrote my uncle a long letter in which I created a nightmare of Chinook. It seemed true enough as I wrote it, but I got carried away” (Wolff 137). This just seems too much like a slave trying to escape his master and his plantation. Wolff even went as far as trying to take Dwight’s favorite possessions to get back at him. “I went back in the house and got the two shotguns. Then I got the Marlin and the Garand. On my last trip I rounded up the Zeiss binoculars and the Puma hunting knife and a tooled leather scabbard Dwight had bought for the Marlin” (Wolff 268). Unfortunately, Wolff realizes that no act of revenge will ever repay Dwight for the torment and pain he caused Wolff in his childhood.
Despite both obtaining freedom both Douglass and Wolff never achieved “mental freedom” which allowed them to really be free. Douglass states, “ I have been frequently asked how I felt when I found myself in a free State. I have never been able to answer the question with any satisfaction to myself ” (Douglass 315). Frederick Douglass never obtained “True Freedom” he was a free man in a world that wasn’t accepting. He missed his old way of life as a slave. People in New York didn’t have the hospitality of those in the South and essentially Douglass was on his own, trying to lie low and just fit in. Both authors also attempted to change their given names to try and escape further from their haunted past. Wolff also relapses into memories of the past, which once held them down. Wolff remembers talking to his own children and thinking of his so-called father Dwight, and how he treated him. Wolff also left many details of his story out to protect both himself and his mother. Douglass also used this same strategy to protect the people that helped him escape. Had both of these authors been free, their autobiography’s could have essentially been very different with a brighter tone, and allow us readers to have a better feeling when we finish the book.
