My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 11 summary
Chapter 11 of 34 · 13 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 11, the narrator continues learning to read despite Mrs. Auld’s opposition, using lessons from white boys and speeches in the Columbian Orator. Reading gives him words to challenge slavery, but it also deepens his misery and exposes the conflict between his freedom and his mistress’s power.
What happens
- Mrs. Auld follows her husband’s advice, stops teaching the narrator, and becomes fiercely opposed to his reading.
- The narrator carries a spelling book and exchanges bread for reading lessons from white playmates.
- His playmates acknowledge his right to freedom and reject the idea that God creates people for slavery.
- At about thirteen, he buys the Columbian Orator and repeatedly reads its dialogue and speeches against oppression.
- Reading strengthens his arguments against slavery but makes his bondage increasingly painful to bear.
- He identifies slavery itself as the cause of his misery and the hostility between himself and Mrs. Auld.
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In this chapter
Quick check
How does the narrator most often obtain reading lessons?
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“My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 11 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-11-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 11 summary. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-11-summary
“My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 11 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-11-summary.
@misc{my_bondage_and_my_freedom_chapter_11_summary_2026,
title = {My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 11 summary},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-11-summary}
}
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