I just finished reading a book called Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. It was so shocking to me and left me a feeling of sadness and amazement that human beings can be so evil and treat other humans with such disregard and pure hatred. The sad thing is that throughout history, this has taken place all around the world even in times that are more recent. I am sure there are places even today where people are treated as slaves were once treated 200 years ago. It makes me wonder as I ponder the fate of slaves and the slaveholders what I would have done had I been born in 1818 in Maryland. Would I have felt a kindness towards slaves and tried to do what I could for them or would I have succumbed to the pressures of society and tolerated the horrible treatment of slaves as I turned a blind eye or even participated in the mistreatment of other humans. I would like to believe I would have felt I would have been strong enough to be good and kind hearted to all people but one of the people in the story I thought was caring ended up turning mean after her exposure to slavery. I recommend this book to all you out there in blog land. I found it very insightful and I am asking my girls and Scott to read it too. If you have read it or will be reading it let me know I would love to discuss it!
I am grateful for courageous people.
2 comments:
I have wanted to read this book for a long while. It is a classic of American literature, and something anybody wanting to study antebellum America should read.
I will mail it to you. It is very short 100 pages and very easy reading. I am having the rest of the family read it first though so you might get it in another month :)
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