Vaules

In Fredrick Douglass’ “Learning to Read and Write”, what does he value? As I read through a section of this, I learned that in the beginning he valued learning to read and write. He was able to learn to read and write through, first, the instruction of his mistress, later, when she was no longer the same sweet woman he knew, he would learn from the younger boys on the street; paying them with bread. As he read he learned new things; upon learning about it, he started to value freedom from slavery. He would not only feel a sense of disdain towards his master, but also a longing for the abolishing of slavery. Although, when Douglass first heard about, and searched the word abolish he still did not know what it meant.

But, through the words and stories of others, he was able to learn that it was meant as something saying, “to get rid of slavery”. As he learned what abolishing meant, he further valued freedom. You can see that it is very important to him when he states, “The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness…

It was heard in every sound, and seen in everything. It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breather in every wind, and moved in every storm” (Douglass 2). Like Douglass, I also value many different things.

I value friendship. I value love. I value courage. I value hard work. I value laughing. I value many things.

With these things I value, also comes experiences and learning new things. What you value can change who you are, what you do, who you hang out with, etc. If we valued nothing, what kind of person do you think you would be? You wouldn’t care if you got in trouble, wouldn’t care if the people you hang out with are bad, and you wouldn’t care if you don’t accomplish anything in life. You see, what we value changes our perspective of life and even who we are a person. The more we value, the more we will be able to move forward in life, and be able to accomplish more achievements.