Lucinda MacKethan writes “In Chapter Five, Douglass was told to bathe in preparation for his new employment in Baltimore; he responded by scrubbing off not just the ‘mange’ of his past life but almost ‘the skin itself’ in a kind of ironic baptism to make himself worthy of the ‘election’ by white masters that he next infers” (60). MacKethan associates this spiritual preparation with literacy, suggesting that Douglass’s baptism relates to the fact that he has been chosen for a situation that will lead to his literacy, which will result in his “salvation from slavery.”
Lucinda MacKethan indicates that it’s relevant that Douglass receives The Columbia Orator at the age of 12 because Protestant children often begin the confirmation process at this time in their lives. She writes, “Douglass shows himself, then, at the ‘perfect’ age for receiving, as if by divine intervention, his own sacred text” (61).
Comparing Douglass’s autobiography to Jonathan Edwards’ Personal Narrative, MacKethan relates the misery Douglass experiences, after literacy gives him new perspective about his condition, to Edwards’ self-loathing after growing spiritual awareness makes him more conscious of his shortcomings. (61-62)
In keeping with her religious reading of the text, Lucinda MacKethan compares the prospect of Henry eating his pass to “the Holy Communion” rite of eating “the word” (66). This corresponds to her theory that Douglass’s transformation from an illiterate slave to a word-wielding free man parallels religious tales of conversion.
Commenting on Robert Stepto’s opinion that Douglass’s omission of the details surrounding his escape serves to authenticate his tale, Lucinda MacKethan asserts that this omission also gives the narrative greater religious significance. (As MacKethan notes, Stepto’s comments to this effect appear on p. 25 of From Behind the Veil). MacKethan writes “Although this is a perceptive interpretation of Douglass’s intentions, we might also infer that, in terms of the organizing principles of the conversion narrative paradigm, the actual physical removal would not have the inner spiritual significance of certain other events” (66).