– Douglass’s grandmother. She raised Douglass because his mother was sold away. She spent her entire life working for Captain Anthony and his family. Douglass is indignant when he hears that after Anthony’s death, Betsy isn’t emancipated, but is instead put out in a shed in the woods to live out her final days alone.
Betsy Bailey Quotes in The Narrative of Frederick Douglass
The The Narrative of Frederick Douglass quotes below are all either spoken by Betsy Bailey or refer to Betsy Bailey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 8
Quotes
“at this time, this most needful time, the time for the exercise of that tenderness and affection which children only can exercise towards a declining parent—my poor old grandmother, the devoted mother of twelve children, is left all alone, in yonder little hut, before a few dim embers. She stands—she sits—she staggers—she falls—she groans—she dies—and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death, or to place beneath the sod her fallen remains. Will not a righteous God visit for these things?”
Related Characters:
Frederick Douglass (speaker), Betsy Bailey
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Betsy Bailey Character Timeline in The Narrative of Frederick Douglass
The timeline below shows where the character Betsy Bailey appears in The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
...passed along to strangers; none is set free. Douglass is disgusted by the way his grandmother is treated: after serving her master for his entire lifetime, she is simply passed into...
(full context)
