Douglas begins to define freedom by telling about his lover who interrupts his lessons. “Education and slavery were incompatible with each other” (Douglas, 25). This simple statement highlights the necessity of ignorance in maintaining slavery. Slaves, as long as they remain unaware of their lack of freedom, will remain slaves. Much like Davis Wallace's “This Is Water” speech, fish are ignorant of the existence of water, similarly slaves are ignorant of their status as property. How can someone understand that their existence is devoid of freedom and fundamental rights if they don't even know these rights to begin with? It follows then that when Douglas begins his self-education, he will learn his disposition in the world. As Douglas so eloquently says, “in teaching me the alphabet, he had given me the thumb, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell” (Douglas, 25). This statement presents the idea that simply realizing your position allows you to begin the journey to free yourself from your bondage. Douglas begins his journey then, taking his education into his own hands, he befriends the local white boys and continues to learn to read. As his knowledge continues to improve, Douglas begins to make plans to escape and build a new life. Therefore, from Douglas's argument it can be deduced that freedom is directly related to the awareness of one's existence. Through education we free ourselves from being trapped in the vicious cycle of inequality and gain the tools necessary to free ourselves from our constraints. The truest sign of this link between freedom and knowledge is demonstrated in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit