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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Cheering Prospect:
In Chapter 5, Douglass describes being sent to live with the Aulds to take care of young Thomas Auld. His arrival at their house is marked by situational irony and pathos:
Mr. and Mrs. Auld were both at home, and met me at the door with their little son Thomas, to take care of whom I had been given. [...] Little Thomas was told, there was his Freddy, — and I was told to take care of little Thomas; and thus I entered upon the duties of my new home with the most cheering prospect ahead.
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Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Weaponized Literacy:
In Chapter 6, Hugh Auld forbids Sophia from teaching Douglass to read. In a twist of situational irony, Auld's speech about how much there is to fear from teaching an enslaved child to read convinces Douglass that literacy is the pathway to freedom:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he was deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read.
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Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Abolition:
In Chapter 7, Douglass describes the dramatic irony of hearing the term "abolition" and not knowing what it means. He describes how he had to seek out the term's meaning, and he emphasizes that learning the meaning was life-changing:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed. While in this state of mind, I was eager to hear any one speak of slavery. I was a ready listener. Every little while, I could hear something about the abolitionists. It was some time before I found what the word meant.
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Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Cords of Affection:
In Chapter 11, Douglass prepares another plan to escape enslavement. He describes the situational irony of being daunted not only by the prospect of what may happen if he is caught, but also the prospect of what will surely happen if he is not caught:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I had a number of warm-hearted friends in Baltimore, — friends that I loved almost as I did my life, — and the thought of being separated from them forever was painful beyond expression. It is my opinion that thousands would escape from slavery, who now remain, but for the strong cords of affection that bind them to their friends.
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