The autobiography titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. The book is about Frederick Douglass’s life as described by the title from his childhood to his adult hood, but not until his old age. The story of Frederick’s life mainly about his life being a slave and his way to freedom in the north.

In the autobiography there was a season in Frederick’s life starting from 7 years old when he was learning to read. The reason he could even start reading was because he was moved from being a slave in a plantation into Baltimore city becoming a slave to a city family in 7 years old age. When he first arrived to the family to become a servant to a young boy, the boy kind mother started to teach Frederick how to read the alphabet and basics until her husband warned that reading is not allowed to be teached to a slaves because it will make the slave harder to control and it will cause discontent to rise in the slave, so she stopped.

Frederick after overhearing the warning by his master to his wife, he was more intrigued and determined to study how to read figuring out that reading is an important step to attain freedom.

Frederick tried to learn reading by trying to read as many newspapers and books he could find, but the kind hearted mistress started to be afraid of him reading and attentively making sure he doesn’t have things or time to read.

Frederick eventually found a way to learn reading by bribing or challenging white street kids to teach or show off their reading skills until he was able to read the basics, and then he found a book, which he kept and read constantly slowly gaining more and more proficient in reading.

Reading profoundly impacted Frederick’s life in the short term and also in the long term. In the short term impact he started to be smarter and more knowledgeable, which inadvertently caused him to be discontent of his life as a slave, exactly as what his master predicted, and also cherishing hopes of freedom. In the long term it caused him to escape to freedom because of the help of the ability of reading and also later writing, and also the discontent it causes him of a life of slavery.

Reading drastically Impacted Frederick’s life causing him to the light of knowledge and most importantly a path to freedom.