Chapter 6 Summary

Douglass focuses here on the people and surroundings at his new home in Baltimore. He marvels at the kindness of Mrs. Auld, who goes as far as attempting to educate Douglass in the alphabet. She was uncomfortable if he acted in a servile manner toward her, as was required of slaves on the plantation, and she wanted him to look her straight in the eye. Douglass learns that this was all due to the fact that she had never had slaves before, since she ran her own successful business and never needed them. However, Douglass indicates that her kindness would soon be changed by the experience of owning a slave.

Douglass narrates how Mr. Auld scolds Mrs. Auld for trying to educate Douglass. Mr. Auld tells her that teaching a slave to read would cause the slave to become unmanageable and of no...