Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass.
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Frederick Douglass
major
Also known as Frederick Douglass, Douglass, Frederick, Richard, Fred, Mr. Douglass
Douglass begins as a child shuttled between plantations and Baltimore households, already asking the questions slavery forbids. His hunger to read—and his discovery that literacy is the road out of bondage—sets him against every master who tries to keep him ignorant. Standing alone on the Chesapeake's banks, he pours his grief at the passing ships, and that private cry becomes the engine of the story's first half.
Edward Covey
major
Also known as Edward Covey, Mr. Covey, Covey, Mr. Edward Covey, Ned
Covey rents Douglass out from Thomas Auld and grinds him through six months of ceaseless field labor in every weather, earning his nickname by breaking bodies and spirits alike. Douglass describes being reduced to a brute under Covey's discipline, his intellect and hope collapsing together. That ruin matters because it sets the stage for the confrontation that redefines what Douglass believes he is.
Captain Thomas Auld
supporting
Also known as Captain Thomas Auld, Captain Auld, Thomas, Master Thomas Auld, Master Thomas
Douglass's master in St. Michael's, Auld is awkward and fretful, unable to make his slaves call him master and humiliated by their quiet defiance. His Methodist conversion raises Douglass's hopes of kindness or emancipation, but instead Auld becomes harsher, praying morning and night while starving his slaves and stuffing visiting preachers. He embodies the book's charge that American Christianity can be twisted into a shield for slavery.
Hugh Auld
supporting
Also known as Mr. Hugh Auld, Master Hugh, Hugh
Hugh Auld owns Douglass in Baltimore and initially allows his wife Sophia to teach the boy letters, until he forbids it with a furious speech about how literacy unfits a slave for bondage. That prohibition becomes Douglass's syllabus: he realizes precisely what slaveholders fear. Auld's thoughtless cruelty in that moment sets the intellectual arc of the narrative in motion.
Austin Gore
supporting
Also known as Mr. Austin Gore, Mr. Gore
Gore oversees Colonel Lloyd's plantation and kills the slave Demby for refusing to come out of a creek, then defends the murder as necessary to prevent insurrection. No court touches him; the community esteems him. His unpunished crime teaches Douglass—and the reader—that in Talbot County, killing a Black person is not treated as a crime at all.
Colonel Edward Lloyd
supporting
Also known as Colonel Lloyd, Lloyd, Colonel Edward Lloyd
Colonel Edward Lloyd presides over the Great House Farm with a thousand enslaved people and a household of sons and sons-in-law who whip servants for sport. When a slave honestly answers Lloyd's roadside questions about his treatment, the man is chained and sold to a Georgia trader without warning. Lloyd's casual power shows how slavery turns ordinary conversation into a death sentence.
Aunt Hester
supporting
Also known as Aunt Hester
Douglass's aunt, whose late-night whipping by Captain Anthony becomes the first scene of terror he cannot forget or forgive.
Henry Bailey
supporting
Also known as Henry Bailey, Henry, the noble Henry
A fellow bondsman and friend whose courage and companionship steady Douglass during the Sabbath school and the darker days at Covey's.
William Freeland
supporting
Also known as Mr. William Freeland, Mr. Freeland, Freeland, Master William, William Freeland
A master whose relative decency lets Douglass teach other slaves to read, and whose trust becomes the ground for a dangerous hope.
Sandy Jenkins
supporting
Also known as Sandy Jenkins, Sandy
A slave and conjurer who hands Douglass a protective root before his confrontation with Covey, blending folk belief with survival.
Demby
minor
Also known as Demby, poor Demby
A slave shot and killed by overseer Austin Gore for refusing to come out of a creek.
Lucretia Auld
minor
Also known as Lucretia, Mrs. Lucretia Auld, Mrs. Lucretia, Mrs. Auld
Captain Thomas Auld's first wife who shows some kindness to Douglass as a child.
Sophia Auld
minor
Also known as Mrs. Auld, Mrs. Hugh Auld
Hugh Auld's wife who initially teaches Douglass the alphabet but is forced to stop.
Nathan Johnson
minor
Also known as Mr. Nathan Johnson, Mr. Johnson, Johnson
A free black man who welcomes Douglass in New Bedford and helps him find work.
William Hamilton
minor
Also known as Mr. William Hamilton, Master William Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton, William Hamilton, Master William
A master who hires Douglass and treats him relatively well.
Thomas Hamilton
minor
Also known as Mr. Thomas Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton, Thomas, Master Thomas
A master who hires Douglass and is involved in the slave trade.
Mr. Severe
minor
Also known as Mr. Severe
A cruel overseer on Colonel Lloyd's plantation who whips slaves frequently.
Mr. Hopkins
minor
Also known as a Mr. Hopkins, IV Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Hopkins
An overseer on Colonel Lloyd's plantation who is less cruel than Mr. Severe.
William Gardner
minor
Also known as Mr. William Gardner, Mr. Gardner
A master who hires Douglass and is known for his harshness.
Barney
minor
Also known as Barney, old Barney
An elderly slave on Colonel Lloyd's plantation.
Wendell Phillips
minor
Also known as Wendell Phillips, Wendell Phillips Frederick Douglass
Abolitionist who wrote a letter prefacing Douglass's narrative.
Daniel Lloyd
minor
Also known as Master Daniel Lloyd, Master Daniel
Colonel Lloyd's son who befriends Douglass as a child.
Cousin Tom
minor
Also known as Cousin Tom, Thomas, Little Thomas, little Thomas
A young relative of the Auld family.
David Ruggles
minor
Also known as Mr. David Ruggles, Mr. Ruggles
Abolitionist who helps Douglass in New Bedford after his escape.
Thomas Lowe
minor
Also known as Mr. Thomas Lowe, Master Thomas, Tom
A master who hires Douglass and is known for his cruelty.
John Harris
minor
Also known as John Harris, John
A fellow slave who participates in the Sabbath school with Douglass.
Henry Harris
minor
Also known as Henry Harris, Henry
A fellow slave who participates in the Sabbath school with Douglass.
Andrew Auld
minor
Also known as Andrew, Master Andrew
Captain Thomas Auld's brother, a slaveholder.
Betsey Bailey
minor
Also known as Betsey Bailey, Bailey, Eliza
Douglass's grandmother, who cares for him as a young child.
Betsy Freeland
minor
Also known as Betsy Freeland
A slave woman on Freeland's farm who is kind to Douglass.
William Hughes
minor
Also known as William Hughes, Hughes
A slave who participates in the Sabbath school.
Samuel Harrison
minor
Also known as Mr. Samuel Harrison, Sam
A slave who participates in the Sabbath school.
Anna Murray
minor
Also known as Murray, Anna, Anna Murray
A free black woman who helps Douglass escape and later becomes his wife.
Mr. Butler
minor
Also known as Mr. Butler
An overseer on Colonel Lloyd's plantation.
Mr. Winder
minor
Also known as Mr. Winder, Winder
A slaveholder who hires Douglass.
Mr. Weeden
minor
Also known as Mr. Weeden
A slaveholder who hires Douglass.
Mr. Plummer
minor
Also known as Plummer, Mr. Plummer
A cruel overseer on Colonel Lloyd's plantation.
George Cookman
minor
Also known as Mr. George Cookman, Mr. Cookman
A Methodist minister who preaches to slaves.
Thomas Lanman
minor
Also known as Mr. Thomas Lanman
A slaveholder who hires Douglass.
Beal Bondly
minor
Also known as Mr. Beal Bondly, Mr. Bondly
A slaveholder who hires Douglass.
Matthews
minor
Also known as Matthews, General Matthews, young Matthews
A slaveholder who hires Douglass.
Jacob Jepson
minor
Also known as Jake, Jacob Jepson, old Jacob
An elderly slave on Colonel Lloyd's plantation.
Bill Smith
minor
Also known as Smith, Bill Smith, Bill
A slave who participates in the Sabbath school.
Mrs. Hamilton
minor
Also known as Mrs. Hamilton
Wife of William Hamilton, a slaveholder.
