Freddie D; Chapter 5, 6, & 7

     Chapter five makes me feel very hopeful for Douglass. He's so excited to leave Colonel Lloyd and he's suffered so much at this plantation. The novel states that he only had one linen shirt that went down to his knees. He had no pants, coats, no shoes, nor stockings. He was practically starved, and recieved his first pair of trousers in chapter five! This suprised me so much. I can't fathom what it would be like to be owned by such rich people, yet be deprived of so many things. Douglass is very excited for what the future hold for him this chapter and it's nice to read about him being greatful that he gets to leave the Great House Farm. Baltimore is such an amazing place according to his description and he is so thankful that it changed and saved his life. I find it sad that he's so excited to be a slave somewhere, just the mere fact that he gets to leave makes him so ecstatic. I would be too if I recieved such a kind, white mistress.
    Chapter six explains how Douglass's mistress began to teach him how to read, but the she gets repremended for it by her husband. This shows Douglass that knowledge is power, and also illegal for slaves, which makes him want to do it so much more. It really inspires me how much he wants to learn. So many people today take learning for granted and he strived for it so much. He knew that knowledge was the key and it would free him. This chapter also showed me that slavery changes people for the worst. Douglass's mistress was such a kind hearted woman, but after she realized how slaves were supposed to be treated, she turned to a stone cold woman. 
    Chapter seven tells how Frederick would take poor white boys bread and ask them to teach him how to read. It made me happy to see how very and geniunly greatfull he still was, and he thanked them, and didn't want to embarrass them by acknowledging them by their names. I really appreciate how much he wanted to learn, I wish that kids today appreciated knowledge as much as Douglass does. This chapter also explains how Douglass would even trick boys into teaching him to read. I found this very clever, and he obviously was not a stupid slave. He was inredibly intelligent, not to mention he was only 11 or 12 at the time.