The narrator of this text is a former slave who was educated by his owner, Mr. Muhammad, and later became a minister. He describes how he learned to read and write in prison, using a dictionary as a miniature encyclopedia. He goes on to explain how reading opened up new vistas for him, allowing him to learn about the world and understand the sufferings of exploitation faced by non-white peoples. He reflects on how his homemade education gave him sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness afflicting the black race in America and how he spends his free time studying something that might help the black man.