Justice in Juxtaposition (Mar 15, 2021)

            “I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, - a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, - a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, - and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection” (Douglass 370). 

            One of the most influential forms of advocacy for abolitionism in the 19^th century was slave narrative literature – and perhaps none so well-known and renowned as Frederick Douglass’ The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, from which the above excerpt is taken.  Douglass, like other writers of this genre, recounted his experience of slavery to freedom to expose the exploitation and oppression of black and enslaved people in the South. The way Douglass articulated the immorality of slavery is firm and unapologetic to white people’s sentiments; the literary techniques utilized in his writing adding even more depth and conviction to his message for abolition with immediate intervention.  While Douglass successfully employed an array of literary techniques throughout his narrative, two of the most recurring and impactful would be his use of juxtaposition and tone.  Through using these techniques by contrasting Christian values with the vivid despair of slavery, Douglass compelled his religious Northern readers to acknowledge the hypocrisy and injustice of using Christianity as a means of justifying the oppression of black and enslaved people. 

Religion and the “horrid crimes” (Douglass 370) of slavery are words with opposing connotations; by drawing attention to this fact, and to the problematic relationship between them in the South, Douglass forced Christian, Northern readers to recognize a moral and fundamental wrong taking place.  The predominant religion in the United States during the 19^th century was Christianity, practiced by both black and white people in the North and the South.  To followers of Christianity, it is a religion with positive connotations revolving around heaven, salvation, and love.  Religion functions as both a moral guide and as a comfort in coping with mortality; Christianity teaches that if a person loves God and acts with love and goodness toward their neighbors, their soul will be saved and elevated upon their death.  It must have come as a shock to Douglass’ Northern audience that their loving faith was being used to protect the brutality of slavery.  Douglass left no room for doubt on the condition of slavery, using grim diction such as “horrid crimes…appalling barbarity…hateful…foulest” (370) to taint the previous image of Christian purity with that of hell on earth for enslaved people.  This bleak, stark contrast informed the tone Douglass used: stern, assertive, and unwavering with solemnity.   Douglass cared little for how Northern white readers would feel about this juxtaposition and tone beyond arousing fundamental change.

After the purposeful placement to accentuate their polarity, Douglass established how slaveholders would take certain excerpts from the Christian Bible and manipulate their meanings to justify their cruelty and their racism: “In justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture – ‘He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes’” (361).  This juxtaposition allowed Northerners to see their religion being twisted for abhorrent, selfish gain.  The idea that slavery could be justified by that which promises acceptance, love, and salvation seems ludicrous – which was Douglass’ point.  In this passage, Douglass encapsulated the entire hypocrisy of the United States.  The American Constitution and its beloved ideals regarding freedom, liberty, and opportunity were inspired by the Christian Bible and by man’s divine and natural rights bestowed to him by God.  However, the Bible is not exclusive in delegating these rights – everyone is God’s child.  But Douglass exposed to his audience how this fact has been manipulated by the white man to exclude and trample upon the rights and lives of black and enslaved people.  Furthermore, he exposed how Southern slaveholders paraded themselves in the guise of good men – not only using Christianity to justify slavery but also using the religion as a shield and false declaration of their own morality and goodness.  How could a man who goes to church every Sunday be capable of such wickedness?  This false equivalency was one Douglass sought to denounce and dismantle through his narrative. 

The brilliance of Douglass using juxtaposition and tone is in its multifaceted impact on his audience.  Northerners who prided themselves on their loving God would have been outraged at the atrocities committed in God’s name.  This forced them to acknowledge the issue of slavery and, at the same time, elicited within them a desire to help.  A true Christian, unlike their Southern counterparts, could not in good conscience actively participate or be complicit in allowing their religion to be used to enforce despair.  In this way, Douglass’ structure and use of literary techniques would inspire Northerners to support the abolitionist movement. 

 

Work Cited

Douglass, Frederick.  “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis Gates et al., W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.