Blog Entry 3

As Chapter 10 begins, it came as a huge impact for me that Douglass is actually looking forward to stop working with Auld. The surprise to me was the reason behind Douglass being happy to go to live with a person that had such a reputation. I always knew, of course, that slaves received brutal treatment, more brutal than what we could ever imagine. But I never thought this treatment would get to the point were the slaves were not fed properly. Food is a basic human need, and in order to keep a human being alive, no matter how brutally you treat them, the person needs to be fed. So adding up to the current treatment he was receiving, he was now hungry. However, now that he is moving, he is happy that we will be in a place that will feed him well, despite the bad treatment he very well knows he will have while there. Unfortunately for Douglass, this glory doesn't last long. As I continued reading through the chapter, I was not able to believe the person Douglass becomes when he begins working with Covey.

As Douglass described Covey's behavior and the way he punish slaves, it seemed to me that Covey was mentally ill. No other owner he had worked with before had these types of behavior. For example, one time he didn't comply with his orders, Covey actually ripped off Douglass' clothes and whipped him unlike any other time: "Upon this he rushed at me with the fierceness of a tiger, tore off my clothes, and lashed me till he had worn out his switches, cutting me so savagely as to leave the marks visible for a long time after." (Pg. 68). Covey knew why Douglass had not been able to do his job properly with the oxen and he still recurred to beating him in such a dehumanizing manner. It is true that all owners would beat their slaves for no good reasons, but there seems to be such a rage and anger in Covey that I didn't perceive in his past owners. Shortly after this Douglass states that he would be brutally beaten on a weekly basis just for being awkward: "During the first six months of that year, scarce a week passed without his whipping me. My awkwardness was almost always his excuse for whipping me." Douglass also describes how Covey would spy on his own slaves to catch them not doing their work properly and have an excuse to beat them up.

Edward Covey instantly reminds me of a character of the famous series Game of Thrones, Joffrey. He is just so full of himself just because he becomes King at a very young age. He would treat everyone brutally just for the fact that he was king and everyone else was inferior to him. He even beat his own mother on one occasion. This is just like Covey's behavior. Beating up his slaves just for the fact that they are black and according to the time's mentality, inferior to him.

The treatment Douglass receives during his stay with Covey eventually hits very hard on Douglass. The person that once had hope and energy was now gone. He says how the work was beginning to seem impossible for him to do, and how he would often end up with blood all over his body after he was beaten. As I read the chapter, I would say I also lost hope just as he did, but was then really surprised when he finally rises up against his owner in such a brave manner. I believe this chapter is just one more demonstration of how slavery is such an efficient tool at degrading the human being in the most cruel and disgusting way.