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From the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass In this passage written by Frederick Douglass presents his story of how literacy allowed him to overcome slavery. Douglass had been taught by a “Mrs. Auld” the alphabet. The Auld family owned Douglass as a slave. A “Mr. Auld” found out about such a heinous act and explained to his wife why it was socially unacceptable for Douglass to be literate. Auld used such excuses as; “Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world”, “it was unlawful”, and “unsafe”. In Auld explanation to his wife Fredrick was present. It was where Douglass learned of what it would take to escape slavery. In the end it was not Mrs. Auld, it was Mr. Auld that freed Fredrick Douglass from slavery. Douglass se