Literature & philosophy
The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers.
Frederick Douglass, Narrative, chapter VII. Literacy gives him language to challenge slavery while deepening his awareness of its injustice.
An example
A careful reading asks what access to language makes possible in this passage and why that knowledge also intensifies suffering. Reducing it to a cheerful slogan about reading would erase the injustice Douglass describes.
Try it
Read the surrounding passage. Identify one sentence about understanding and one about the cost of that understanding.
More context
Frederick Douglass, Narrative, chapter VII. Literacy gives him language to challenge slavery while deepening his awareness of its injustice.
Sources & further reading
Frederick Douglass · Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass