The Ironic Lives of Two Courageous People

“The Ironic lives of two courageous people”

Life is full of sacrifices. Those sacrifices dramatically changed the lives of two young people. One was a thirteen-year-old young girl who experienced the Holocaust, and the other was a young African American boy who was taken from his family at a young age to become a slave. The names of these two courageous people were Anne Frank and Frederick Douglass. Although, Anne and Fredericks’ lifestyles were different, they ironically were the same. One was a prisoner of circumstance and the other was a prisoner of slavery.

Anne Frank was the prisoner of circumstance. Due to Adolf Hitler; a German nazi, Jews were severely restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees such as: Jews were required to wear a yellow star, shop only between the hours of three and five o’clock p.m., were forbidden to be out on the streets between the hours of eight p.m. and six o’clock a.m., and not to mention were required to turn in their bicycles. The only means of transportation left for the Jews was the ferry. If they chose not to ride the ferry, they had to walk in the heat of the day with their luggage, such as a schoolbag.

Despite all of the Jewish restrictions, Anne was still given the privilege of receiving an education. Anne enjoyed school, but struggled in math. Anne struggled in math because of her mouth. Anne loved to talk, which became a problem between her and her teacher. He would frequently assign her essays relating to the topic of “A Chatterbox,” as a means of punishment. Anne quickly won her teacher over with her clever wit in her essays.

Anne loved to write. She recorded events from her everyday life in a diary she named “Kitty.” Kitty became Anne’s one true friend; the friend she could relay her deepest secret’s to and had to worry not about them being revealed. The secrets Anne recorded are the secrets that reveal to us today the typical, but abnormal lives of the Jews during the time of the Holocaust.

Unlike Anne, who was a prisoner of circumstance, Frederick Douglass was a prisoner of slavery. There were two types of slaves. One type was called the “city slave.” The city slaves received better clothing, food, and had privileges that a plantation slave couldn’t imagine. A “plantation slave” only received cruel punishment. A plantation slave could be forced to work all day and dare he or she make a mistake for their master may strike them. Douglass was one of the unfortunate slaves who witnessed cruel punishment given to a fellow slave by her master for not moving fast enough.

Like Anne, Frederick received somewhat of an education from his mistress. She was sincere enough to teach him the A, B, C’s and how to spell words of three or four letters. However, when Frederick’s master learned of his wife teaching him, he instantly put a halt to it. His master informed his wife that it “was not only unlawful to teach a slave, but unsafe as well.” He also stated “If you gave a slave an inch, he would take an ell.” A third statement his master made was “If a slave knew how to read he would become unmanageable and would no longer be of any value to his master.” These words sparked Frederick’s thoughts. At that moment he realized what being a slaveholder was all about. Frederick realized that for a slaveholder it was about having the ability