"power to reason" (Douglass, 65). The slaveholders deemed it their duty to "darken [their] moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible to annihilate the power of reason" (Douglass, 64-5). Douglass, however, recognized the injustice of slavery. His realization of this intense unfairness lead to his "running away" with himself" (Royer, 370). Douglass runs away both physically, by escaping the bonds of slavery, and mentally, by escaping the reality of slavery through his thoughts, contemplation, and powerful reasoning. Frederick Douglass regards the power to reason as essential to his being. This necessity runs parallel to Daniel J. Royer’s belief that the psychological component of literacy is fundamental to cognition. Literacy involves the existence of social relationships in addition to the mere memorization of letters and words common to a traditional education. In his narrative, Douglass shows that he has attained this psychological understanding. With his acquisition of power, the slaveholders no longer oppressed him because they were no longer in control of his mind. Traditionally, a slave’s mind is "starved by their cruel masters. They [are] shut up in mental darkness" (Douglass, 55). Frederick Douglass’ emergence from this mental darkness is quite apparent when he realized that he is not "expelled from the social system, not outside of it or even at its ‘margins’ but rather inside it and oppressed" (Royer, 368). In the Narrative, he comes to this realization when he "understood what had been to [him] a most perplexing difficulty-to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom" (Douglass, 29). Not only did Frederick Douglass indicate the power and pride of his achievement but he also confronted the importance of community that he discovered. He does this when he refe...
