The issue of slavery in America is a vastly documented phenomenon that captivates the interest of nearly everyone with a slight interest in history. It is a dark and fascinating subject yet still an overlooked part of our young nation’s history. Though there are countless books and articles written on the topic, few provide such compelling and brutally truthful accounts of the hardships endured by slaves as Harriett Jacobs in Incidents of a Slave Girl. Within this novel, she attempts to describe her situation under the laws dictating her life as a slave. She writes as to persuade the reader not to judge her as she tells them all she has bared in her life. As a young girl when she became a slave, she was subject to harassment, particularly by sexual means, more so than her male equals. Through the course of her book, Jacobs describes her predicament and attempts to survive and surpass it.…
The main themes highlighted in this novel are slavery, cruelty and courage. Barbara Smucker brings the story to life when she addresses these themes. Examples of these are addressed throughout the novel e.g. when Sims bullies the slaves. For example, he shouts:…
In the memoir, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, she describes her early years with a very happy view yet, with an unaware sense. She was sheltered and protected, from her evil reality for six years. That was until her kind mistress died and Jacobs began to mature and realize she was just a piece of property. While, everyone she knew and cared for were slowly leaving her. Over time, Jacobs describes her developing consciousness of her own condition as a slave when more tragedies in her life took place.…
An encounter with Dr. Flint helps Linda realize that though he has all legal authority over her, she does have the power to resist. She says “when he told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in everything; that I was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his, never before had my puny arm felt so strong.”(29)…
If you were a slave, what would you do? How would you deal with the situation? Slavery and harsh treatment are both central themes in both Slave Girl in California and The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass.…
Because she associates the slave’s humanity with defiant or subversive speech, resistant behavior, and the ethics of reciprocal relationships, as well as with writing and individual autonomy, Jacobs affirms the humanity of the collectivity of slaves as well as the successful fugitive and literate narrator” (Mullen…
Through the slave narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author and narrator, Harriet Jacobs recounts the summation of her life’s events, beginning from the moment of self realization as a slave, to the climax of freedom from persecution and fear associated with slavery. However, this literary piece serves a purpose greater than a refreshing form of entertainment of the American Antebellum period. Jacobs relives her traumatic experiences in this narrative to convey anti-slavery rhetoric through these true and horrifying experiences, Although the piece as a whole functions effectively to bring the audience to the realization of slavery’s true nature, Jacobs utilizes more provocative rhetoric through her interruptions of the narrative. In these interruptions delivers her anti-slavery rhetoric directly to the audience. This audience too is specialized, as they are northern White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (W.A.S.P.) women. With this defined audience, Jacobs specifies her argument and appeals to the female issues of slavery, namely sexual abuse, motherhood, and further oppression for her gender, then parallels said themes to the experiences and sentiment of the female audience.…
One of the main themes of this story is the power of slavery during this time. Most slave owners where cruel and inhumane. They would beat, torture, and mistreat the slaves. An example would be Dr. Flint. He would mistreat and obligate Linda to do things she did not want to. The slave owners felt superior over the slaves and the lives of the slaves. Even the “nicest” of slave owners would feel the superior. Like Mr. Sands promised…
In this book, it explains the distress and grief these slaves had to face in their everyday lives. There is ten slaves and each of them wrote their own story about what they had to face each and everyday. For example, one of the slaves is Frederick Douglass. He was the most famous African American of the nineteenth century. This book, sets back into the eighteen hundreds and kids at eight years old would be taken away from their loved ones and were put to work like cattle by their new possessor. For example, Frederick Douglas at the age of eight was taken from his mother without even saying goodbye. Douglas had to call his new controller Aunt Kathy or he would get a flogging. He explains the misery he had to sustain and how many times he was beaten or punished to starve. For example, he wrote about his new owner Kathy, “The cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; the voice, made all of sweet accord changed to one harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon”. (Taylor, 2005, p. 58). Each slave at the end of their story explains their after life. Growing Up In Slavery makes you think of life in other people’s shoes and how it would make you feel if you were them.…
Flint made every effort to ruin her virtue and “tried his utmost to corrupt the pure principles [Linda’s] grandmother had instilled” (Jacobs 30). The cage she is put in by Dr. Flint is constructed so that she can be observed by himself. Putting a different cage, or barrier, of her own making between herself and Dr. Flint provides her with safety, but it is just a smaller, more confining cage within the larger cages of her life (Dr. Flint’s and slavery’s) and keeps her locked away from her freedom. The choice of this cage does give Linda autonomy to keep her body away from Dr. Flint, but in doing so she has to keep her body away from everyone else, as well. Linda must be alone in this cage in order for it to protect her…
The two themes of the story are the meaning of heritage and the power of knowledge. Dee thinks that her heritage is dead and she wants to use the material remains of it as artifacts. Her heritage has not ended and needs people to keep it going and that is why Mama rewarded Maggie with the quilts. Dee tries becoming something she is not by disowning her family values for a heritage she knows nothing about. She has forgotten where she comes from and does not truly appreciate the contribution of her relatives. Knowledge gave Dee the illusion that she is above everyone else. Dee has lost herself in education. It gave her a false view of the world and who she really…
Life as a slave was very difficult. As many as 4.5 million slaves were working in Southern plantations in the early to mid-1800’s. There were two types of slaves; field slaves and house slaves. People think that being a house slave was easier but this proves that theory wrong. Slaves had terrible environments, were separated from family and friends, and were sometimes beaten to death. Whites knew that slavery was wrong and immoral. Though, it still continued.…
In her slave narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs makes the case that “[slavery] is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.” (Jacobs #) According to female slave narratives like Incidents and The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave, it is worse to be a female slave because, in addition to the brutalities endured by all slaves, enslaved women are also victims of a sexist and patriarchal society where they are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as bear the added anguish of becoming mothers and knowingly raising children into this horrific system of bondage.…
In the book Incident in the life of a slave, Linda battles with slavery. Linda is a strong black female. She stood up for what she believed in and she was very determined to get freedom. Slaves were considered property, and sexual favors of slave women were often associated with their masters. Linda denied Dr. Flint, when he tired to have a sexual relationship with her, when Linda was 15 years old Dr. Flint started to raped her. He threatens to kill her grandmother if she tries to tell her. I feel that most slave women gave into sexual relationship with their masters because they were scared of the consequences. She didn’t feel safe in her own room, she was afraid Dr. Flint, would come in her room at anytime to rape her. Linda room should be…
Book Theme: In the arduous journey from childhood to adulthood, a young woman is faced with two things that need great attention and balance - the progress of her individual social standing, and the welfare of her immediate family.…