Douglass: Slave or Dark Knight?

A common definition of a romantic hero is, "a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has the self as the center of his or her own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist in the literary work and there is a primary focus on the character's thoughts rather than his or her actions."
This definition is exemplified through the protagonist in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave--this is so for numerous reasons. Douglass first is rejected by society when he is put into slavery and is more or less pushed around by his master and Mr. Covey. They have no intention of treating him as an equal and he feels as if he was transformed form a man into a "brute." Douglass and his fellow slaves were hardly treated as people; they merely served as tools basically property for Mr. Covey. 
The next aspect of a Romantic Hero is having the protagonist himself as the center of his or her own existence. This is seen when Douglass goes to see Master Thomas. He decides to defy Mr. Covey in hopes of bettering his own life, but he succumbs to his weakness and returns to Covey. However, though he returns to his saddening life, he in turn becomes empowered and takes control of the situation, and overcomes Mr. Covey. This all relates to how Douglass is taking hold of his own existence and not just letting life just happen to him and pass him by.
Finally, Douglass is obviously the subject of the narrative, as it centers around his yearlong stint with Mr. Covey. Taking place mostly in Douglass' mind, the narrative focuses on his own thoughts and feelings about his life rather than full-on descriptions about his physical experiences, although there is a bit of that. This aspect of a Romantic hero is shown when Douglass is looking out to sea, contemplating his life, and how he is so close to freedom, yet so far. He inwardly laments, "O that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing!... I have only one life to lose. I had as well be killed running as die standing." This excerpt is a good example of how throughout the most of the narrative, the reader is experiencing Douglass' thoughts, emotions, and desires about his current life situation and what he wants in the future, however intangible it may seem.
By encompassing these qualities of a Romantic hero, we are shown how Douglass manifests the aspects of the typical literary protagonist of the time period.