The Forbidden Ell

Frederick Douglass insists on telling the reader about the deep dark not-so-secrets of the 1800s in the US.  However, in the midst of all the whipping stories, the hunger stories and the lack of clothing stories there is the story of his campaign to become literate. This provides the reader with material that transcends the rhetoric behind the tales and engages in the day-to-day grapples with wanting what you can’t have.

Douglass says that at a time when he was, “wishing himself dead” (52) and “regretting his own existence” (52) he was intrigued by the “fruit of abolition” (52).  In a particularly involuntary allusion to the Book of Genesis, the author perfectly encompasses the nature of abolition.  Furthermore, much like a forbidden fruit, reading “had been a curse rather than a blessing” (51).  This plays in with his societally imposed naïveté regarding the meaning of the word and the prohibition of reading to make him the perfect slave. As long as he didn’t know what he was missing, he wouldn’t miss it.  Therefore, while all his stories do tell the reader how horrible it was to be a slave, all he really has to mention is his writing process and the reader will comprehend his woes.

ell 1 |el|nouna former measure of length (equivalent to six hand breadths) used mainly for textiles, locally variable but typically about 45 inches.

His writing serves a purpose: providing fuel for the movement that wanted African American rights. Yet, he became an activist by default.  As he learned to read, and to take the infamous ell of literacy, he had no choice but to realize that he wanted to fight for a better lifestyle.  In realizing that reading was prohibited and that talking about abolition was prohibited, he was pushed toward reading and toward finding out what abolition meant.  As a reader, I am delighted to see something other than a constant plea for sympathy from the author.  While I do understand that it may be necessary for him to illustrate the ruthlessness of his overseers, I would much rather just hear about the forbidden fruit of literacy and abolition.