One of the most striking things about Douglass' memoir is the ambiguous morality practiced by Southern slaveholders. Douglass spends a lot of time in the final chapters pointing out the hypocrisy of Southern Christianity. He tackles this hot-button issue head on and with no fear, knocking the religious "crutch" out of slaveholders' hands. His critiques are scathing while at the same time fair. Every sinner in Douglass' narrative has a little of the saint in them and every saint has a little bit of the sinner. He doesn't paint a stark black and white picture of slavery, but rather one with varying shades of gray.
There was a process by which Douglass was reduced from man to slave and to gain his freedom the process is reversed. One of the most important steps in this process is to first recognize freedom as a desired thing. The most cruel trickery committed by slaveholders in Douglass' eyes is the transformation of the freedom into a vile thing.
To escape slavery one must value his/her freedom and deem it a necessary component of a happy life. Then a slave must learn to overcome his/her bondage and form loving attachments to fellow slaves. The next step is to fight for one's freedom; to assert one's rights and challenge the authority of slavery. Douglass suggests that to rise up is to claim one's "manhood." And the final step in transforming from slave to free man is to share one's story with the world. By regaining one's voice the slave conquers his/her fears and is able to rejoin society, forming loving bonds as free men do.
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