Douglass's narrative cultivates a mood of hopeful solidarity in the reader. For instance, he signs off at the end of the Appendix with not only a plea for white Northern readers to believe him, but also a promise to "pledge myself anew" to abolitionism:
Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds — faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts — and solemnly pledging myself anew to the sacred cause, — I subscribe myself, FREDERICK DOUGLASS. LYNN, Mass., April 28, 1845.
Douglass's narrative lays bare the institution of slavery in a way that no one with his credibility and level of insider knowledge had done before. He could have been far harsher about the social and political dynamics that allow the institution of slavery to go on. He is careful not to be too harsh with white Northerners because he is aiming to make alliances. He aligns himself with "my brethren in bonds," but he also aligns himself with white readers thinking about joining or recommitting to "the sacred cause."
Douglass wrote his narrative in part because people did not believe that he could have been enslaved given his literary and oratory success. By writing this narrative, he helps disbelieving readers see him as living proof that enslaved Black Americans are capable of self-education and success in elite American culture (something many white people questioned because of racist ideology).
The hyper focus on Frederick Douglass as one of the key representatives of American chattel slavery has been criticized because he does not represent nearly every enslaved person's experience, and he is focused more on assimilation than many Black writers and activists. When considering the role the narrative has played in literary and social history, it is helpful to consider the mood he was trying to inspire in white Northern readers: he wanted to convince them that they too could be "brethren" in abolition. The narrative should not be taken as a complete expression of what it was like to be enslaved, but rather as one man's expression, and as a book that aimed to urge a specific group of people to action against the institution of slavery.
