How does Douglass use the conflict between the slave and master in this essay to give the passage coherence? How do the words of Douglass’s slave master serve as the ironic catalyst for his intellectual journey?

Douglass comes face-to-face with the potency and power of literacy when his master forbids Mrs. Auld to teach him his letters. Douglass hears Auld explain that when a slave learns to read and write he is no longer fit to be enslaved; he becomes intractable, unmanageable, discontent, and rebellious. Douglass is flabbergasted at Auld's explanation and immediately decides he will do everything in his power to attain literacy.