One of the
points that Douglass makes forcefully about slavery is that it is an institution that harms
all of the participants, not just the slave. He argues that the slaves take
the brunt of the punishment but that, nevertheless, the white slaveowners are also
dehumanized.
A prime example of this dehumanization is Mrs. Auld. When
Douglass is sent to serve her in Baltimore, she is at first kind to him because she has had
little prior contact with slavery. She treats him as a human being, allows him to look her in
the face, and even goes so far as to start to teach him to read. He learns the alphabet and
short words before her husband intervenes.
When Mrs. Auld, however, becomes
more conversant with the system of slavery, her kind heart is hardened, and she begins to treat
slaves harshly and as if they are not truly human.
Douglass also notes the
way the violent beatings perpetrated by some of the slaveowners merely whet their appetite for
more violencea violence they then can indulge....
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