Question

Which answer best reflects the author's reason for writing Chapter 11 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass? to lament the friends and family he left in the South to explain why he cannot tell others of the exact method of his escape to express in great detail how he escaped the South to call attention to the people who helped him escape from the South

Answer 1

Answer:

To explain why he cannot tell others of the exact method of his escape.

Explanation:

In his autobiographical memoir "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass", former slave Frederick Douglass reveals his life as a slave and how he got his freedom. He then later became a huge supporter of the abolition of slavery and would work towards the freedom of slaves.

In the last part of the memoir, Chapter 11 reveals his canceled plan of revealing the exact method of his escape. He had planned to tell the exact manner of his own escape but then decided again that it will only lead to more serious issues that might hinder or reveal the escape plans of other slaves. He admits "such a statement would most undoubtedly induce greater vigilance on the part of slaveholders than has existed heretofore among them; which would, of course, be the means of guarding a door whereby some dear brother bondman might escape his galling chains", thereby revealing the secrets of any escape plans of other slaves.

Thus, the main purpose of Chapter 11 seems to be that he wants to explain why he couldn't reveal the exact methods of his escape to guarantee the security of other slaves and their plans of escape.