Question

I was seldom whipped by my old master, and suffered little from any thing else than hunger and cold. I suffered much from hunger, but much more from cold. In hottest summer, and coldest winter, I was kept almost naked—no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees. I had no bed. I must have perished with cold, but that, the coldest nights, I used to steal a bag which was used for carrying corn to the mill. I would crawl into this bag, and there sleep on the cold, damp, clay floor, with my head in and feet out.
How does Douglass's objective style in this excerpt add to the power of his narrative? Be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

Frederick Douglas's objective narrative style can be observed on how he includes mostly facts in his texts and tends to leave out his feelings. In this excerpt, we can see how he tells the sequence of abuse he endured, but not one example of an emotion while he was enduring said abuse. Because this is an objective narrative, opposed to a subjective narrative, it makes it appeal to a more global audience as everyone can agree that the conditions in which he had to live were inhumane. Notice that he states "I would crawl into this bag, and there sleep on the cold, damp, clay floor, with my head in and feet out.", but doesn't add something like "I was so sad/frustrated of living this life". Had he done so, people could have taken it as a personal perception of the events and it would have resulted in a decrease of the perceived severity of his situation.