What intrigued me most in "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas" was when the author talks about how the slaves would sing songs on their way to the Great House Farm. Like he states, he was astonished at how people would speak of this singing amongst the salves as their way of expressing their happiness and contentment. What they failed to realize were that these songs for these slaves represented their lives and told a tale of what slavery was like and how tormenting it could be. .
When one thinks of a person singing, one does tend to think it is because they are so joyful and happy that they are looking for a means to express themselves. What needs to be realized is that these expressions aren't necessarily happy ones but recounts for them a time of sorrow and of being treated like an animal rather than a human being. Yes, they would sing on their way to the Great House Farm, but it was on those days that they could simply breathe and be away from the constant work on the field and away from under the driver's lash. These were the days when they were not humiliated in front of their peers nor used, as machines are used today, continually and without mercy. .
Even today if a person listens to an artists" song and pay close attention to the lyrics they can feel what they are trying to express. A person's emotions are evoked through the melody and tone of the artist. So yes, these slaves did sing verses like "I am going away to the Great House Farm! O, Yea! O Yea! O!" But if they looked beyond those words and into the tone and melody of the artist, that is when they would feel their pain and what great trails and tribulations they have had to go through in their lives, what sorrows they have seen. .
The author himself states of how he had often sung to drown his sorrows and seldom to express his happiness. His comparison of the singing of a man cast away upon a desolate island, to the singing of a slave as songs that are prompted by the same emotions is amazing.
