I’ve been rereading The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with my students this January, and it’s fascinating the feature role that reading itself plays in Douglass’s harrowing tale. He recounts first learning the A, B, Cs as a boy at the foot of his mistress. Mrs. Auld had never owned a slave before, and it seemed natural to her that all little boys should learn to read.
Her little homeschool would not last long.
When Master Auld caught wind of it, he was furious. He told his wife that, among other things, “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read.” While his master’s violent injunctions slammed the door on young Freddy’s education, they opened a window: “These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought . . . From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.”
What was the dangerous path? Reading.
Convinced that books held the key to his freedom, Douglass fought for clandestine literacy. Books, newspapers, and publications introduced him to the intoxicating ideas of freedom, abolition, and the dignity of the slave—crazy notions that slaveholders fought to keep off their plantations.
What made reading so dangerous for Douglass? It broke the chokehold of Southern parochialism. Walls of oppression were powerless against the ideas parachuting into Douglass’s world on paper wings.
Reading can liberate—but it can also enslave.
J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter learns this firsthand when he comes into contact with a mysterious journal at Hogwarts. Through beguiling curiosity, Potter is lured by the book’s author Tom Riddle into the Chamber of Secrets where he barely escapes death-by-giant-snake. Potter also discovers that Riddle’s journal has bewitched Ginny Weasley, prompting the unsuspecting girl to commit acts of terror on campus.
Reading is dangerous, but not for the reason you’d expect: The danger lies not in the book but in the reader.
Tom Riddle’s journal reminds us that a book has no power until it is opened. The Master Aulds of the world would try to keep dangerous ideas away by making sure certain books are never opened. But this only makes books more potent. When unpracticed readers happen upon them, they are easily taken captive like Ginny Weasley.
The better way is to cultivate good readers. Wise, discerning, practiced readers—people who can discern true from false. Books cannot seduce readers who can recognize misleading voices. Indeed, for good readers like Douglass reading becomes a dangerous and liberating adventure—because we never exit the back cover of a book the same person we were when we entered.
There’s nothing dangerous about homemade whipped cream—other than how easy it is to eat by the giant spoonful. For those with a stand-mixer on the counter, there really is no good excuse for you to eat store-bought whipped cream ever again.
Besides, whipped cream goes so well with all the pies we sell at The Hutch!
Homemade Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1 c heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Make it:
Put the cream in a mixing bowl. Using a stand mixer (or a handheld), slowly work the cream up to the highest speed. Do it gradually so it doesn’t splatter all over the kitchen cabinets.
Add the sugar and vanilla.
Whip to desired consistency. It shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes once you get it to full speed. Don’t walk away, or else it will turn into butter! If you like your whipped cream runnier, just stop it sooner.
Enjoy on your favorite The Hutch pie, stack of pancakes—or by the spoonful!