I know other people have written
about the worth of slaves as people rather than just property and I wanted to
share my view too. I want to bring us back to Douglass’s grandmother and how
her masters treated her. When Andrew died and all his possessions and slaves
were divvied up, we all know that Douglass’s grandmother was built a small hut
and was sent to live out in the woods. This is the ultimate disrespect coming
from a family that she basically raised while also being a slave. “She had
served my old master faithfully from youth to old age. She had been the source
of all his wealth; she has peopled his plantation with slaves; she had become a
great grandmother in his service. She had rocked him in infancy, attended him
in childhood, served him through life, and at his death wiped from his icy brow
the cold death-sweat, and closed his eyes forever…without being gratified with
the small privilege of a single word, as to their or her own destiny” (39). I know
I just read this quote out loud in class last time but this is still just so
powerful. Look at all the things that she did for generations of this family:
birthed and raised children, worked the land, cared for her master as a child
and on his death bed. These aren’t things that would go unnoticed in today’s
world. Grandmothers today are respected for all that they do because it isn’t easy.
But she was never thanked, never shown any gratitude and that is not only
frustrating but heartbreaking because I’m sure she raised children that were
not her own that never cared for her the way that she did for them. This is
racism and sexism at its finest and at least Douglass brought that to light if
no one else was going to.
Douglass’s Grandmother raised not only Masters Andrews as her own child, but also his kids and his grandkids, in addition to her own kin, without a hint of gratification from Master Andrews’s family. Yet, Douglass’s grandma accepted this inferiority as her deserving role in life, which is evident in her actions. The first action is the fact the she closes Master’s Andrews eyes upon his death- which is a sign of affection, even after he abused her inhumanly. Andrews was not the kindest of masters, which is evident in the fact that, just a few days prior to his death, Andrew beat Douglass’s younger brother to near death, an incident that Douglass personally calls, “a savage outbreak upon my brother,” (35). Douglass recalls Master Andrew’s beating in his narrative: “a man who, but a few days before, to give me a sample of his bloody disposition, took my little brother by the throat, threw him on the ground, and with the heel of his boot stamped upon his head till the blood gushed from his nose and ears,”(35). From this description, it is fair to come to the conclusion that Andrews wasn’t afraid to demonstrate his power by abusing the slaves. Yet, even after Douglass’s grandma was most likely abused herself at the hands of Master Andrew in a similar manner to her grandchild, she still affectionately closes Master Andrew’s eyes at the time of his death. This shows that Douglass’s Grandma forgives her Master and accepts his behavior as the norm between Masters and their slaves. Therefore, it’s fair to say this grandma truly has the biggest heart of gold since she never retaliates and raises a hand toward master Andrews, or his kin.
ReplyDelete