In their respective writings, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederick Douglass learn to operate and rebel in their own personal political communities and are both ostracized. by their political beliefs. Douglass, a slave living in antebellum America, learns to read and write; his literacy is itself a form of rebellion and he uses his new language against the system that educated him and oppressed him. Emerson is also an outsider, but by choice; the ideals expressed in his writings necessitate his separation from his community. Both Douglass and Emerson are revolutionaries in their own right, challenging their communities and the policies that come with them to pursue their personal ideologies. However, due to their respective positions in society, Douglass and Emerson approach politics and revolution in different ways: Douglass must maneuver and rebel within the confines of the politics established by his community, while Emerson is able to redefine entirely the political structure, essentially existing. outside the laws of his community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Douglass, because of his position in his community as a former slave, must work within existing political guidelines to shape his rebellion. Douglass must respect the laws of his masters; he can only challenge them by acting within the very political community they had created to subdue Douglass. Because of Douglass's suppression, he has no license, inclination, or impulse to act outside of the political community into which he has been forced. Instead, he rebels within the confines of his community and his revolutionary actions are therefore extremely recognizable as such. For example, as Douglass's mistress, Mrs. Auld, teaches him to read and write, he begins to learn about the politics surrounding his slavery: "I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—namely, the power of the white man to enslave the black man. It was a good achievement and I highly appreciated it” (29). As Douglass gains his own usefulness by becoming literate, he learns the politics of the community that enslaves him. Furthermore, Douglass is proud of this realization and holds it tightly as his new knowledge will allow him to challenge these policies, his community, and his master by rebelling against them. That Douglass's form of revolution occurs within the confines of his community's politics is manifested in the syntax of his rhetoric. He states: “What he [Douglas's master] feared most is what I most desired. What he likes the most, what I hate the most. What was for him a great evil, to be carefully avoided, was for me a great good, to be diligently sought” (29-30). Through his rhetoric, Douglass aligns himself with his master, with the white man, with power and utility, and learns to rebel. The parallel structure of Douglass's phrasing leads the reader to view Douglass as his master's equal, as a worthy adversary. Yet, by employing such structure and syntax, Douglass demonstrates his adherence to the policies of his community. Douglass works within the confines of his political community, only able to challenge his master through a carefully constructed equation. Douglass does not and cannot consider himself superior to his master; it would be a completely unsupported and illogical revolution within his political community due to his status as a black man,.