The Brutalizing Effects of Slavery Illustrated in the...

Frederick Douglass, the author of the book â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass†, said â€Å"I saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slave and slaveholder† (Douglass, p.71). Modern people can fairly and easily understand the negative effects of slavery upon slave. People have the idea of slaves that they are not allow to learn which makes them unable to read and write and also they don’t have enough time to take a rest and recover their injuries. However, the negative effects upon slaveholder are less obvious to modern people. People usually think about the positive effects of slavery upon slaveholder, such as getting inexpensive labor. In the book â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass†, Douglass†¦show more content†¦Actually, it made him even more cruel and hateful and he made greatest pretensions to piety. He remained as a cruel slaveholder, but he prayed everyday and he proved himself a n instrument in the hands of the church in converting many souls (Douglass, p. 77). However, his unconvincing performance and pretending as a Christian made him even crueler. Also, since he was a slaveholder and a Christian, he couldn’t avoid having a double life. He was a mean and cruel master and a hypocrite for his slaves, but he was a faithful Christian for other white Christians. His cruelty and double life are showing readers how slavery can impact the slaveholders in a negative way. Moreover, Edward Covey was also a slaveholder like Thomas Auld and he pretended that he was a Christian. Douglass talked about Covey that â€Å"Everything he possessed in the shape of learning or religion, he made conform to his disposition to deceive. He seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the Almighty. He would make a short prayer in the morning, and a long prayer at night†¦I do verily believe that he sometimes deceived himself into the solemn belief, that he was a sincere wo rshipper of the most high God†¦shocking as in the fact, he bought her, as he said, for a breeder† (Douglass, p. 82). Covey was a very cruel master and even bought a woman for a breeder as calling himself as a Christian. He was really