The story Incidents in the Life of a Slave girl is about keeping a family together and it’s about achieving personal freedom, also keeping families happy and to abolish slavery. The setting of this story takes place in Edenton, North Carolina, in the eighteen hundreds. In this time period slavery was huge, every plantation owner had slaves. This story is about a woman who wants to escape from the troubles that every slave goes through, it is also about corruption and rape. The main characters Linda and Aunt Martha are trying to have a good family bond but because of the corruptions that are going on it is hard to have a family bond.
Linda Brent (Harriet Jacobs) is a very smart woman, determined, and a courageous woman. Linda was born
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into slavery, and lived in a small crawlspace for many years, and escaped from slavery. From the story we learn slave or no slave Linda is not weak-willed, Linda is very smart and she’s not going to accept her purpose, the way Aunt Martha wanted. “I had not lived fourteen years in slavery for nothing. I had felt, seen, and heard enough, to read the characters, and question the motives, of those around me” (Jacobs 19). Aunt Martha says this because she is trying to prove a point to Linda that there is no point of escaping from slavery. Aunt Martha says that she’s been through it all and there’s no point from leaving from this. Linda is a very strong woman even though Dr. Flint her slave owner, who harassed, abuses, and pursues her, but because she is strong, Linda manages to evade him every time. Dr. Flint taunts her by saying “she was made for use that she was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his” (Jacobs 18). But Linda takes the challenge by saying “Never, had my puny arm felt half so strong” (Jacobs 18). Linda obviously does not have the physical or legal strength to fight Dr. Flint, but she has moral strength. Because of slavery Linda has been corrupted, “I like a straightforward course, and am always reluctant to resort to subterfuges. So far as my ways have been crooked, I charge them all upon slavery. It was that system of violence and wrong which now left me no alternative but to enact a falsehood” (Jacobs 165). Linda admits that she has done bad things like lying, sinning, and deceiving. Aunt Martha (Molly Horniblow) who is loved in her community in Edenton, North Carolina, the blacks and whites loved her. Dr. Flint puts her up for sale after her lover dies; no one would bid for her except a small old white woman who quickly sets her free. Once Aunt Martha was freed she started a shop as a banker, she made good money and keeps her big family fed, clothed and eventually buying some of her family free from slavery. Aunt Martha was a faithful slave, but once she was freed she was a scorching woman. She stood up to Dr. Flint telling him “Get out of my house, go home and take care of your wife and children” (Jacobs 80). Aunt Martha wants to keep her family close, which is a good thing but her attitude is holding them back especially for Linda. Aunt Martha is a big source of spiritual and physical ease to Linda, but every time Linda tries to run-away Aunt Martha guilt’s her choice to run-away. Aunt Martha says “ Stand by your own children, and suffer with them till death. Nobody respects a mother who forsakes her children; and if you leave them, you will never have a happy moment. If you go, you will make me miserable the short time I have to live” (Jacobs 86). Because of Aunt Martha guilt trips Linda is going through severe and lasting physical effects, which makes us think if it’s the right thing to do for Linda. Ever time Linda gets a chance to escape slavery, Aunt Marta every time convinces her not to escape. Linda says, “My grandmother, always nervously sensitive about runaways, was terribly frightened. She felt sure that a similar fate awaited me, if I did desist from my enterprise. She sobbed, and groaned, and entreated me not to go” (Jacobs 148). Aunt Martha always tells Linda that it’s going to kill her if she leaves, but Aunt Martha doesn’t know that for Linda staying is killing her. In the article Distortion of the Familial Bonds, written by Anna Schovanec, the author says, “Slavery greatly distorts Linda’s relationship with her grandmother, pitting Linda’s subversive fight for freedom against her grandmother’s guidance and well being”.
This means that Linda wants to escape from slavery, but because of Aunt Martha putting guilt trips on Linda, this hurts there relationship. Linda I believe resents her grandmother for this, but Aunt Martha believes that she is doing the right thing for her. Aunt Martha represents the role of mother and father figure by providing reinforcement to Linda. Because of Aunt Martha is a free woman she can provide many things to her granddaughter in times in need. Because of Linda and Aunt Martha complex relationship, Linda says, “Although my grandmother was all in all to me, I feared her as well loved her. I had been accustomed to look up at her with a respect bordering upon awe” (Jacobs 28-29). The fear that Linda has with Aunt Martha gives her trouble telling her about Dr. Flint advances which leads to a major conflict. “As a young slave girl of fifteen years, Linda if forced to choose between the virtues instilled by her much respected Grandmother and her need to assert herself sexually to avoid father enslavement” …show more content…
(Schovanec). Linda lived in a small crawlspace for many years, she hated being a slave, but the fact that Linda got to live with her grandmother made them closer.
Linda and Aunt Martha had many disagreements especially when Aunt Martha guilt tripped Linda from leaving. Aunt Martha always thought that Linda would be in the same situation or worse. That’s one of the main reasons why Linda never escaped from slavery. Linda had two kids. “The relationship between grandmother and granddaughter suffers further strain because Linda continues her unforgivable relationship with Mr. Sands, resulting in the birth of two children”
(Schovanec). In result Linda gets sold to another woman who sets her free which is what she always wanted. Aunt Martha dies of old age. “the greatest sacrifice occours following Linda’s emancipation when her grandmother does not live long enough to see her grandmother a free woman” (Schovanec). Many years later after Linda escapes from slavery she comes back to her old town to see how it looks like. We learn many things from this book, we lean that both woman were strong in there own ways that made them who they were. Both will be remembered as great woman of this time, which is a good thing.
In Harriett Jacobs’s book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she informs her readers of her life as a slave girl growing up in southern America. By doing this she hides her identity and is referred to as Linda Brent which she had a motive for her secrecy? In the beginning of her life she is sheltered as a child by her loving mistress where she lived a free blissful life. However after her mistress dies she is not freed from the bondage of slaver but given to her mistress sister and this is where Jacobs’s happiness dissolved. In her story, she reveals that slavery is terrible for men but, is more so dreadful for women. In addition woman bore being raped by their masters, as well as their children begin sold into slavery. All of this experience
Aunt Harriet is the sister of David's mother Mrs. Strorm. She enters the story half way through the book, where she goes to Mrs. Strorm seeking help. Yet the help she is looking for is not something Mrs. Strorm agrees with: "Nothing much! You have the effrontery to bring your monster into my house, and tell me it's nothing much!" (p.70) Aunt Harriet is very loving, strong, and she fights for what she thinks is the right thing: "I shall pray God to send into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate." (p.73) Aunt Harriet is also the proof of what happens to people who have a deviation or are trying to protect someone with a deviation: "Aunt Harriet's body has been found in a river, no one mentioned a baby…." (p.74) She is a very will hearted woman who is one of the very few people in this time that has the will to speak her mind.
Jacobs, Harriet, and Yellin, Jean. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press
Jacobs uses the pseudonym Linda Brent to narrate her first-person account. Born into slavery, Linda spends her early years in a happy home with her mother and father, who are relatively well-off slaves. When her mother dies, six-year-old Linda is sent to live with her mother's mistress, who treats her well and teaches her to read. After a few years, this mistress dies and bequeaths Linda to a relative. Her new masters are cruel and neglectful, and Dr. Flint, the father, soon begins pressuring Linda to have a sexual relationship with him. Linda struggles against Flint's overtures for several years. He pressures and threatens her, and she defies and outwits him. Knowing that Flint will eventually get his way, Linda consents to a love affair with a white neighbor, Mr. Sands, saying that she is ashamed of this illicit relationship but finds it preferable to being raped by the loathsome Dr. Flint. With Mr. Sands, she has two children, Benny and Ellen. Linda argues that a powerless slave girl cannot be held to the same standards of morality as a free woman. She also has practical reasons for agreeing to the affair: she hopes that when Flint finds out about it, he will sell her to Sands in disgust. Instead, the vengeful Flint sends Linda to his plantation to be broken in as a field hand.
Linda Brent, Ms. Jacobs' pseudonym while writing "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," became so entrenched in hatred of slaveholders and slavery that she lost sight of the possible good actions of slaveholders. When she "resolved never to be conquered" (p.17), she could no longer see any positive motivations or overtures made by slaveholders. Specifically, she could not see the good side of Mr. Flint, the father of her mistress. He showed his care for her in many ways, most notably in that he never allowed anyone to physically hurt her, he built a house for her, and he offered to take care of her and her bastard child even though it was not his.
Harriet was never considered a good slave. After her head injury, a neighbor wanted to hire her as a nurse-girl, and her owner was more than willing to let her go. (Taylor 8). Harriet was required to “do all the housework, milk the cows, as well as to be at the side of the cradle every time the little darling cried.” (Taylor 8). Because she wasn't able to be at all places at all times, she was beaten and sent back to her owner with the recommendation, “She don’t worth the salt that seasons her grub.” (Taylor 8). Once Harriet was returned, her owner greeted her with “I will break you in!” (Taylor 8). “From early morn till late at night she was made to work, beaten and cuffed upon the slightest provocation.” (Taylor 8).
The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick
Ultimately, I believe Linda Brent’s somatic rights was more important to her than anything. She grew up knowing full well that as a woman, her body automatically belonged to someone else; whether it be her master or whatever mate he chose for her. Linda continuously fought and rebelled against this notion. Although she could have had a nice and comfortable cottage to herself being Dr. Flint’s mistress, she chose the opposite and more challenging path because along with that cottage would come the constant torment of owing her body to him. Linda sacrificed everything to be free from this distress, including going into hiding and isolating herself for 7 years.
In her story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents what life was like living as a female slave during the 19th century. Born into slavery, she exhibits, to people living in the North who thought slaves were treated fairly and well, how living as a slave, especially as a female slave during that time, was a heinous and horrible experience. Perhaps even harder than it was if one had been a male slave, as female slaves had to deal with issues, such as unwanted sexual attention, sexual victimization and for some the suffering of being separated from their children. Harriet Jacobs shows that despite all of the hardship that she struggled with, having a cause to fight for, that is trying to get your children a better life
In “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs, Jacob’s writing demonstrates to challenge the acceptance of slavery during the 1800’s. Jacobs, who is writing inside a “contact zone” tries to connect both societies in this story.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl. 2nd Edition. Edited by Pine T. Joslyn. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, INC., 2001.
Linda’s grandmother, Aunt Martha was arguably the most significant family member that aided in her liberation of a slave, but also played a role in the delay of Linda’s escape. Martha provided shelter and protection for Linda as Dr. Flint sought after her. As Dr. Flint assaults Linda at her grandmother’s home, Martha exclaims “Get out of my house… you will have enough to do, without watching my family.”(pg 70) As Dr. Flint exercised his tyranny onto Linda, Martha could not stand by and watch. Throughout Linda’s experience of a slave, her grandmother treated her as if she was her own daughter. This led to Linda
In her essay, “Loopholes of Resistance,” Michelle Burnham argues that “Aunt Marthy’s garret does not offer a retreat from the oppressive conditions of slavery – as, one might argue, the communal life in Aunt Marthy’s house does – so much as it enacts a repetition of them…[Thus] Harriet Jacobs escapes reigning discourses in structures only in the very process of affirming them” (289). In order to support this, one must first agree that Aunt Marthy’s house provides a retreat from slavery. I do not. Burnham seems to view the life inside Aunt Marthy’s house as one outside of and apart from slavery where family structure can exist, the mind can find some rest, comfort can be given, and a sense of peace and humanity can be achieved. In contrast, Burnham views the garret as a physical embodiment of the horrors of slavery, a place where family can only dream about being together, the mind is subjected to psychological warfare, comfort is non-existent, and only the fear and apprehension of inhumanity can be found. It is true that Aunt Marthy’s house paints and entirely different, much less severe, picture of slavery than that of the garret, but still, it is a picture of slavery differing only in that it temporarily masks the harsh realities of slavery whereas the garret openly portrays them. The garret’s close proximity to the house is symbolic of the ever-lurking presence of slavery and its power to break down and destroy families and lives until there is nothing left. Throughout her novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents these and several other structures that suggest a possible retreat from slavery, may appear from the outside to provide such a retreat, but ideally never can. Among these structures are religion, literacy, family, self, and freedom.
It was noticed that Harriet focus more on love, whereas Douglass focus more on trying to find a way out. In other words Harriet showed a lot of feminism throughout her narrative, and on the other had Douglass showed more determination to get out. Due to these events, and circumstances it can be justified that gender contributed a lot in the lives of Fredrick Douglass, Linda Brent (Harriet A. Jacobs). It can also be concluded that age, and dismemberment played a big role in their lives coming up as slaves.
Despite Flint’s overtures, Linda is able to avoid being by the grace of her own intellect. Although her actions may seem illicit and ill-advised, like her love affair with Mr. Sands to fend off Dr. Flint, so are the repercussions if she cooperates and does nothing. Jacobs predicates that slaves suffer from the influence of the slave system on their moral development. In the text, it is evident that Linda does not condemn slaves for illegal or immoral acts such as theft or adultery, but rather saying that they usually have no other option but to behave this way. However, she also points out that slaves have no reason to develop a strong ethical sense, as they are given no ownership of themselves or final control over their actions. This is not their fault, but the fault of the slavery system that dehumanizes them. “Pity me, and pardon me, O virtuous reader! You never knew what it is to be a slave; to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of a chattel, entirely subject to the will of another” (Jacobs 49). Slaves are not evil like their masters, but important parts of their personalities are left undeveloped. She argues that a powerless slave girl cannot be held to the same standards of morality as a free