The narrative essay “Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave” describes the personal stories Paul experienced as a slave. The cruel and unjust treatment meted out to him by his masters gave him a strong desire to learn to read and write in any way possible by being resourceful and determined to learn. However, Douglas said, "I sometimes felt that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing" and "I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity" (4); in which he regrets learning and he also illustrated why he considered knowledge a curse because he learned that freedom did not benefit him at all. In my case, I can also say that I regret certain things that I learned in the past that I know would make me happier if I didn't learn them at all. At age twelve, Douglas became a slave in Mr. Hugh's household. Mrs. Auld was very kind and caring when Douglas met her, as it was the first time she had had a slave in the house. She even taught him the ABCs, but Mr. Auld forbade her to do so. However, in the latter part of the story, she turns into an evil mistress. Mr. Auld said: "If you give a nigger an inch, he'll take a yard." A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master, to do what he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best Negro in the world” (1) and this revelation was a revelation about the freedom that awaited him. Mr. Auld told his wife that if a slave learned to read, Paul would not be satisfied and sad because he would long for freedom. Paul learned that learning to read is the key to his freedom. He longed for freedom because he was mistreated. I am so impressed with the effort he put into learning to read and becoming a good writer. However, he regrets having learned...... in the middle of the article ......demonstrates that my experience did not provide me with knowledge because I felt upset that if I had not knew science, I would not doubt and my trust in God would not be at stake. Our knowledge is the key to our success and happiness in our life to give us personal satisfaction. Knowledge is power, but not always. Sometimes our self-awareness and growth as an individual gives us negative thoughts that make us want to go back and undo it. Everyone wants to unlearn a part of our life that has brought us pain and problems. The good or bad experiences brought by true wisdom can be used for our self-acceptance, personal growth and these experiences would make us stronger as we walk the path of our so-called "life", but the experience of Douglas and mine in matters of knowledge confirmed his belief that "knowledge is a curse." We both felt frustrated and sad about learning knowledge..