In "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave," Frederick Douglass breaks into proclamations that the condition of slavery and education are incompatible for slaves as well as the forms of Christianity. In the text he is constantly wavering between an intense desire to become more educated and gaining literacy and wanting to give up entirely. The power of education in "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" is one of the most important themes in the entire book, but is not a theme with a consistent meaning. Douglass understands that the only path to freedom, both for himself and other slaves, was through learning to read, write, and have an educational base to construct on. He was also sickened with education because it caused him to understand the full extent of the horrors of slavery. He states, "It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out" (p.35). Since he was one of the few ex-slaves who was given an opportunity to speak publicly about his experiences, often to white audiences (who were generally abolitionists) this was also a way for him to get across the pure cruelty of slavery as an institution to a captive audience.
For Douglass, finally being able to read and understand more fully the effects of slavery sometimes served to make him more miserable as he came to comprehend the hopelessness of the situation for himself and other slaves. To make matters more difficult, getting his education was an occurring battle because he had to remain secretive since it was "unlawful to teach a slave to read" (p.29). Thinking that the world was against his pursuit to learn, Douglass seemed to suffer as a result of his education and literacy as it became more advanced. Once Douglass had achieved his goal of learning to read and write well and become literate, he saw a whole new world, which made the one he existed in even harder to bear.