Question

What is ironic about the following passage from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass? "In 1832, my master attended a Methodist camp-meeting held in the Bayside, Talbot County, and there experienced religion. I indulged a faint hope that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slaves, and that, if he did not do this, it would, at any rate, make him more kind and humane. It neither made him to be humane to his slaves, nor to emancipate them. If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways; for I believe him to have been a much worse man after his conversion than before." A. Master Thomas decides to free his slaves after finding religion. B. Master Thomas is overpowered by his new-found religion. C. His master is crueler after finding religion than he was before. D. His master finds religion when Douglass believed he didn't have a soul.

Answer 1

The correct option is C.
Douglass considered his master to be a cruel man. There was a time his master went for a christian camp meeting and during the meeting he gave his life to Christ. Douglass was hoping that this religious transformation will make his master to be less cruel toward his slaves, but he find out that this was not the case, instead, the master became more cruel.
 This is an irony, because Douglass actually experienced the opposite of his expectation.<span />