Top 5 Life Lessons from "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

by Rachel Carey

I know what a lot of students probably think when Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is assigned in class: What are we doing reading a book published in 1845? It is true that Douglass’s narrative was written during a time when American life was very different from what it is today — the ramifications from slavery and tragedy consumed much of Douglass’s life.

However, my argument is this: just because Frederick Douglass lived a long time ago, during a time in American history that is hard to imagine, does not mean that his narrative has any shortage of lessons to teach the modern student. The reality of it is that most of Douglass’s story is centered around his difficult adolescence, being moved from plantation to plantation and master to master as he tried to learn the basic lessons about and for a successful life.

Frederick Douglass’s autobiographical account clearly illustrates the plight of a man who never lost sight of what he wanted in life. Even though students might find it hard to relate to what he went through, there is something universally meaningful about his mindset through it all. I’ve gathered five lessons I learned as I read his narrative, in the hopes that sharing them might spark more interest in your students to read his account and take it to heart: