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Fredrick Douglass

Donald B. Gibson’s essay, “Faith, Doubt, and Apostasy: Evidence of Things Unseen In Frederick Douglass’s Narrative”, presents several arguments that assist in understanding Douglass’ inclusion of an Appendix to explain the religious references alluded to in his narrative. First, Gibson argues that Douglass was aware that his narrative could be read as blasphemous, as much for questioning the existence of God as for denouncing the entire as hypocritical, and therefore using the Appendix to contextualize his words. He continues by purporting that Douglass’ ideas regarding religion stem from his experiences and are not the regurgitated sentiments of abolitionists. Lastly, Gibson believes the Appendix is Douglass’ attempt to refute the reputation he gained (after writing his book) for being * “an infidel”, thereby explaining its seeming detachedness from the rest of the narrative. While I find all of these arguments valid, I think that the argument could also examine the numerous biblical references that Douglass makes throughout his narrative and in the Appendix.
Gibson’s assumptions that Douglass’ addition of an Appendix as means of explaining himself both in and outside the context of the book, identify his (Gibson’s) methods as not only psychoanalytical, but textual and historical as well. Gibson combines historical facts and anecdotes with related, external texts to support his findings in Douglass’ Narrative. He opens his essay with an account of a runaway slave questioning the existence of God, (which is seen in Douglass’ Narrative as well), allowing Gibson to show that this dilemma is not unique * to Douglass (or the aforementioned slave), but to most slaves familiar with religion. In attempting to deconstruct Douglass’ character in relation to religion, Gibson uses textual evidence (Douglass’ Narrative as well as excerpts from his speeches) to draw * conclusions. By presenting his train of thought in a logical and documented manner, his psychoanalytic...