Demby is a slave who is killed by Mr. Gore, one of Colonel Lloyd’s overseers. Demby runs away from the brutal whipping he is receiving from Gore and takes refuge in a stream. Gore threatens to shoot Demby if the slave does not leave the stream by the count of three, and when Demby remains in the stream, Gore kills him. Gore is not punished for his actions. This story illustrates that the murder of a slave is not treated as a punishable offense in the slaveholding south.
Demby Quotes in The Narrative of Frederick Douglass
The The Narrative of Frederick Douglass quotes below all refer to the symbol of Demby. 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 4
Quotes
“I speak advisedly when I say this,—that killing a slave, or any colored person, in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community.”
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Demby Symbol Timeline in The Narrative of Frederick Douglass
The timeline below shows where the symbol Demby appears in The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Gore once began to whip one of Colonel Lloyd’s slaves named Demby. Demby runs into a creek to ease the burns of the lash and refuses to...
(full context)
