Finding Freedom
In both Frederick Douglass' The Battle with Mr. Covey and in
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character finds a
force more powerful then he.Not only do they experience physical abuse,
they also find themselves mentally beaten.To save themselves, both
characters flee in search of freedom.
In The Battle with Mr. Covey Douglass portrays a slave
struggling for his life.One afternoon, the slave's strength failed him.
Despite many attempts at getting up, he couldn't find his feet.
Although trying to explain to Mr. Covey what was wrong, Covey gave him a
savage kicking the side.He then picked up a hickory slab and hit him over
the head. As his physical wounds progressively got worse, he was beginning to
be mentally scarred as well.Despite a near death experience, Covey just left
him to his fate.This was when Covey realized he had to go to his master.He
proceeded to walk seven miles through the woods, making his physical stature
even worse.This being his attempt at freedom however, he had to bear the
pain.Despite the savage look of Douglass, master Thomas seemed to believe
Covey would never hurt him.In his seven miles of walking with unbearable
pain, he only received one night away from Covey.Upon the return to Covey,
he felt it was time for rebellion.He then made a desperate attempt at freedom
by seizing Mr. Covey hard by the throat.He later says that that battle
was the turning point for his career as a slave. By showing how the slave
found freedom, he truly showed how a slave was made a man.
In Mark Twain's The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, a boy
struggling mentally and physically, finds himself in search of freedom as
Douglass had.The exert opens with Huck living in a home in which
civilization is the primary goal. Although he became educated, Pap shows up …