Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay

Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl Essay Educating the North of the dismay of slavery through the use of literature was one strategy that led to the questioning, and ultimately, the destruction of slavery. Therefore, Harriet Jacobs’s narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is very effective in using various tactics in order to get women in the North to pay attention and question the horrifying conditions in the South. By acknowledging that not all slaveholders were inhumane, explaining the horrific abuse and punishments slaves endured, and comparing the manner in which whites and slaves spent their holidays, Jacobs’s narrative serves its purpose of arousing Northern women to take notice of the appalling conditions tons of Southern
Some people could argue that the life of a domestic animal would be better than being a slave or not being alive at all. Suffering countless abomination, including sexual assault, beatings, and murders, these slaves experience much more than we would think is humanly possible today. The impression of slavery, as unpleasant as it is, must nevertheless be examined to understand the destitutions that were caused in the lives of enslaved African-Americans. Without a doubt, conditions that the slaves lived under could be easily described as unbearable and inhumane. As painful as the slave 's treatment by the masters was, it proved to be more intolerable for the women who were enslaved.She says "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own."(Jacobs 86).Jacobs creates a new type of slave narrative. She emphasizes that whether or not they are beaten, starved, or made to work in the fields, all female slaves suffered from traumas.They were often raped by white men (usually their master) and bore their children. These children were often treated poorly or taken from their mother. Overall, the fact that their bodies were not their own was perhaps the most terrible component of slavery for women-they were looked upon as
Throughout Linda’s life she came to acknowledge that a Christian master was the most dreadful master of all. A Christian master knew the word of God or what we would call the teachings of the Bible, so he was able to intentionally misconstrue biblical verses to his. Yet, white southern “Christians” committed these cruel acts, believing their behaviors were neither wrong nor immoral(BN 1). Looking back at these atrociousness, those who call themselves Christians are appalled. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, Harriet A. Jacobs describes the hypocrisy of Southern, Christian slave owners in order to show that slavery and Christianity are not congruent. Despite the fact that Christianity teaches the values of respect, goodwill and generosity, etc., Christian slave holders seem to think these teachings do not account for them and they do not have to follow them, which is without a doubt hypocritical. African American slavery is reducing a human being to the condition of property, the same as other goods, wares, merchandise and chattels almost like prison if not worse.The treatment of slaves was customarily unfortante because slave masters did not care if their slaves were hurt,tired,hungry, etc they had their profit in mind rather than the well-being of their slaves. Due to the way that