Up From Slavery chapters1-4

So far I have very much enjoyed this novel. I felt that his struggle to learn was very inspiring. While I was reading the first four chapters, I found that I could not help but think about how I would have acted growing up as a slave. I would want to think that I would crave the same knowledge that he craves for, but I am not sure because of all of the hardships he goes through to learn. Also I kept on thinking about how easy it would have been for him, or his mother, to tell him to quit. As I thought about this I wondered if Washington wanted to create those questions in our minds.
When I got to chapter four I did not want to put down the book. I felt that this was such a hard part to stop at because I kept on wondering whether in the next chapter anything would happen to Washington. I worried that this chapter was foreshadowing for the next chapter with the Ku Klux Klan. I have done some studying on this time period out side of school so I felt even more drawn to this part in the book. It was hard to read and not think about all of the innocent lives that were hurt and taken. I felt that Washington really wanted to connect with his readers on a more personal level to him.
All in all I have felt that Washington’s story is very inspirational so far because of how much he really wants to help others. I have been wondering about Dubois’s thoughts about Washington though.