The reader can infer that being a slaveholder made Mrs. Auld less concerned about helping enslaved people. The excerpt indicates that slavery had a negative influence on her character, transforming her from a compassionate individual to someone who ceased to provide instruction and support to Douglass.
Read this excerpt from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
[Mrs. Auld] had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness. The first step in her downward course was in her ceasing to instruct me.
The reader can infer that being a slaveholder made Mrs. Auld
more fierce about protecting enslaved people.
less concerned about helping enslaved people.
more gentle when teaching enslaved people.
less religious than most enslaved people.
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