Chapter 5 Summary

A change occurs with Chapter 5, where Douglass shifts from narrating as an observer to describing his own personal treatment as a slave. He didn't have to undergo the severe treatment that some slaves endured on the Lloyd plantation because he was still a child and, therefore, did not yet have to work in the fields. Instead, he merely had to tend some farm animals, do some yard work and run errands. He also performed as a retriever for Master Daniel Lloyd when he went bird hunting. This job was fortunate for Douglass because Master Daniel actually liked him, protected him and gave him food.

Although he didn't yet receive much beating, he did suffer from the bitter cold, especially since a child such as Douglass was only given a shirt to wear, and nothing else. With no bed, he slept on the clay...