Resumo de Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave; A Room Of One?s Own

Through history man has conquered and ruled lands, animals, and even his own kind; this unquenchable desire for power often overrules the subtle instinct, found in childhood, of equality to all humans. Examine the writing of Fredric Douglass and Virginia Woolf, every essence of their souls rebels against the overbearing prejudices directed at their physical features. They question what drives men to oppress and beat the members of their own blood into the muck of social hate and intolerance. From oppression and discrimination the authors rise to the conclusion that education is the primary donor of freedom. Each minority, of which Douglass and Woolf write, did not have access to education, like their oppressors. Could this lack of equal rights be connected to lack of equal access to education?

Consider the slavery, which Douglass fights: teaching slave to write ?[is] unlawful, as well as unsafe?(266). He depicts slavery as slightly more mental than physical, for though in slavery physically, one could only accept it if he were uneducated. In learning to read the slave had access to an opening of opportunities: he could read the paper for information to help him escape, and understand political differences. Educated whites knew this, and they kept reading and writing withheld. This very example of reading the newspaper enabled Douglass to enhance his views as a slave. Nothing could curb his growth of understanding after he learned to read and write, and this was the very fear of the slave owners.

Woolf had similar views, but in a different situation. She addressed the ?slavery? of women, specifically in Elizabethan Era. Within her work, A Room of One?s Own, she points our attention that women ?hardly read, could scarcely spell, and was the property of her husband?(766). Women had absolutely no say in anything; she ran the house, and raised the kids. Her intellectual creativity was stifled, for men only wanted her work. Any education, which she received, did not come in a formal schooling situation. She ?needed,? in the man?s opinion, only a basic, if any, understanding of written words. With education women would begin to question the ways men treated her. Housework may become drudgery for her, and this would lead to women owning businesses and property, not to mention she could then edge her way into politics.

Douglass and Woolf spoke from the same heart. Each fought the stereotype in which ?Providence?(274) had placed them, and in that suffocating position they made a lasting difference in our world. Education pressed in their minds, and from the learning, which they received, came to realize education changes laws, thoughts, and liberties. The oppressors may have resented letting go of their slaves, but new generations learned the teaching of these two writers. Teachers like these enabled America to become the ?melting pot? of the world today.

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