Instead of characterizing himself, Douglass describes his enviorment. Why do you think Douglass chose to do this?

I believe he chose to vividly detail his environment because those descriptions help us to understand the actions of the people who lived in that environment. Our environment, and our reactions to the environment in which we live, have everything to do with our actions as human beings. Douglass was able to move past the environment he describes and escape it, few slaves accomplished that....... but in the end, there's no arguing that the slave environment shaped Douglass' future and the man he became.