Despair in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

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Despair in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 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. Mr. Flint tries to take care of Ms. Jacobs as well as he can. He always protects her from physical abuse that anyone would wish upon her. She states this fact explicitly many times. She writes, "Sometimes I so openly expressed my contempt for him that he would become violently enraged, and I wondered why he did not strike me" (p. 32). He does not strike her because he cannot be...

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