The Heroic Slave outlines the cruelties of slavery, “heart-touching narrations of his own personal suffering, intermingled with prayers to the God of the oppressed for help and deliverance” (Douglass 180). In order to overcome the struggles for freedom, one must place a high value on self and the betterment of society. The journey to freedom is a long one full of mountains, valleys, thickets, disappointments, and all sorts of heartbreaks. Douglas seeks to compel abolitionists to carry on with their noble cause of pressing for freedom irrespective of the cost involved. The theme of this masterpiece is the journey towards freedom. Freedom is not that simple, thus Frederick Douglass saw fit to write The Heroic Slave in which he portrays this vision for freedom the idea of becoming a free man, and using the struggle he encountered as a lesson to empower the abolitionists. The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides one definition of freedom as the liberation from slavery, restraint, or the power of another. Frederick Douglass’ The Heroic Slave demonstrates the inconceivable and unimaginable struggle one suffers to obtain the simple right of freedom. In Frederick Douglass’ The Heroic Slave, Douglass presents the reader with Madison Washington, a loving father, and a husband who is determined to become a free man and free those whom he loves. Freedom does not just come, people have to work for it it is achieved not imposed. Freedom is the desired value but is not always easily attained.
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