Situational irony is often used by writers to show incongruences between theory and reality. Douglass sometimes wished that he was illiterate and stupid so that he would not understand the breadth of the injustices against slaves. This is situationally ironic because most people believe that knowledge is a blessing and should be cherished. Unfortunately, Douglass revealed that having knowledge can be a curse when coupled with a lack of power. Douglass drew attention to a complicated facet of his life by using situation irony. Douglass also utilized juxtaposition to discuss different situations in life. He compared himself with ships and discussed the freedoms that ships had versus the restrictions that enslavement placed on Douglass, as ships were free to sail in the ocean. When he juxtaposed the observations that he made about ships with his own circumstances, Douglass was able to emphasize contrast between freedom and servitude. Finally, Douglass included personification of slavery as a person with “robes already crimsoned with the blood of millions, and even now feasting itself greedily upon our own flesh.” Douglass drew attention to the fact that slavery was difficult to appease because of greed that, presumably, slave owners had for money, power, and the flesh of more slaves. The fact that the robes of slavery are painted red by blood brings to attention the reality that slavery was a violent business. Douglass likely used personification in the hopes that readers would be better able to visualize the evils of slavery if it resembled a greedy figure. The variety of devices that Douglass utilized illustrates his vast knowledge about writing and therefore helps to humanize him and African
Situational irony is often used by writers to show incongruences between theory and reality. Douglass sometimes wished that he was illiterate and stupid so that he would not understand the breadth of the injustices against slaves. This is situationally ironic because most people believe that knowledge is a blessing and should be cherished. Unfortunately, Douglass revealed that having knowledge can be a curse when coupled with a lack of power. Douglass drew attention to a complicated facet of his life by using situation irony. Douglass also utilized juxtaposition to discuss different situations in life. He compared himself with ships and discussed the freedoms that ships had versus the restrictions that enslavement placed on Douglass, as ships were free to sail in the ocean. When he juxtaposed the observations that he made about ships with his own circumstances, Douglass was able to emphasize contrast between freedom and servitude. Finally, Douglass included personification of slavery as a person with “robes already crimsoned with the blood of millions, and even now feasting itself greedily upon our own flesh.” Douglass drew attention to the fact that slavery was difficult to appease because of greed that, presumably, slave owners had for money, power, and the flesh of more slaves. The fact that the robes of slavery are painted red by blood brings to attention the reality that slavery was a violent business. Douglass likely used personification in the hopes that readers would be better able to visualize the evils of slavery if it resembled a greedy figure. The variety of devices that Douglass utilized illustrates his vast knowledge about writing and therefore helps to humanize him and African