The main characters in School Slave by Theresa Breslin are Ryan, the central protagonist and school boy, his mother and a little girl in the boat house. Ryan plays a curious school boy who does not like school that much. His mother comes across as protective and comes into the story towards the end of the story.
The main problem faced by Ryan during the story is not liking school. However, when he finds a piece of fabric with 'HELP' written on it he is faced with the problems of finding where it came from and why the word was written in mud on the fabric. When he finds the scarf that the fabric was ripped from he soon discovers a little girl in the nearby boathouse. This in turn creates the main climatic problem of having to rescue the little
One of the main characters are Uriah he is a 12 or 13 year boy that is a slave and works in the cotton fields and he pretends to have the fever and chills once a week just so he can sneak out to learn how to read and write, that just goes to show how bad slaves wanted to read and write and just learn in general.
Twelve years a slave is the title of a book and a movie which was an adaptation of the life of Solomon Northup. Solomon Northup was born in New York a free man. He had a wife and three children, he unlike most other children was educated.”Besides giving us an education surpassing that ordinarily bestowed to the children in our condition” he said page 25, he had a farm and worked as a violinist. He was drugged, abducted and sold into slavery in 1841 while on a visit to Washington, sold at auction and shipped to work in cotton plantations in Louisiana. He was given a new identity and his slave name was “Platt.” he never accepted being
A recurring theme in, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is Harriet Jacobs's reflections on what slavery meant to her as well as all women in bondage. Continuously, Jacobs expresses her deep hatred of slavery, and all of its implications. She dreads such an institution so much that she sometimes regards death as a better alternative than a life in bondage. For Harriet, slavery was different than many African Americans. She did not spend her life harvesting cotton on a large plantation. She was not flogged and beaten regularly like many slaves. She was not actively kept from illiteracy. Actually, Harriet always was treated relatively well. She performed most of her work inside and was rarely ever punished, at the request of her licentious master. Furthermore, she was taught to read and sew, and to perform other tasks associated with a ?ladies? work. Outwardly, it appeared that Harriet had it pretty good, in light of what many slaves had succumbed to. However, Ironically Harriet believes these fortunes were actually her curse. The fact that she was well kept and light skinned as well as being attractive lead to her victimization as a sexual object. Consequently, Harriet became a prospective concubine for Dr. Norcom. She points out that life under slavery was as bad as any slave could hope for. Harriet talks about her life as slave by saying, ?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 chattel, entirely subject to the will of another.? (Jacobs p. 55).
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 Jacobs' words in Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl clearly suggests that the life as a slave girl is harsh and unsatisfactory. In this Composition, Jacobs is born a slave, never to be freed. She struggles through life in many instances making life seem impossible. The author's purpose is to state to the people what happened during slavery times in the point of view of a slave. Her life is so harsh that she even hides from her master for 7 years in a cramped space in the top of a shed without any room to walk. The theme of the story is a statement on how slavery was a much harder way of life than many people may have thought. Many people during these times thought that slaves were happy where they were and that their lives were much easier in the southern states than in their ...
The book Celia, a Slave by Melton Alonza McLaurin provides a critical insight into one of the pivotal points in the history of the American slavery: the trial of a young African American slave who had the courage to stand up against abuse but was executed by her master. McLaurin does not attempt to romanticize the story and instead strives to show the realities of the time when slaves were treated as commodities, deprived not only of their freedom but also of dignity and ethical treatment. The book Celia, a Slave by McLaurin is a good piece of historical writing that empowers to reader to live through the hardships of slaves, to learn more about the society based on slavery, and to ultimately gain deeper appreciation for racial and ethnic diversity that the American nation currently has.
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
The feminist movement sought to gain rights for women. Many feminist during the early nineteenth century fought for the abolition of slavery around the world. The slave narrative became a powerful feminist tool in the nineteenth century. Black and white women are fictionalized and objectified in the slave narrative. White women are idealized as pure, angelic, and chaste while black woman are idealized as exotic and contained an uncontrollable, savage sexuality. Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl, brought the sexual oppression of captive black women into the public and political arena.
Throughout American history there have been many horrific tragedies and events that have impacted the country and its citizens but none can be compared to the evils of slavery. This “peculiar institution” was the fate of millions of African Americans who were subject to cruelty and contempt by their owners and society. They were treated as if they were animals whose only purpose in life was to please their white owners. It is shameful to know that it was condoned as a “necessary evil” and lasted for over two hundred years in North America. In the beginning, the public did not know the truth behind a slave’s life and the obstacles they endured and overcome to survive it. However, the reality is revealed in slave narratives of who lived during that time and wrote of their experiences. They tell the unheard truths of their masters’ cruelty and the extent it was given to all victims of slavery. In the slave narrative, Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, she focuses on the torment of being a female in slavery and why it was a much worse fate than being a male slave.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a classic novel about a young boy who struggles to save and free himself from captivity, responsibility, and social injustice. Along his river to freedom, he aids and befriends a runaway slave named Jim. The two travel down the Mississippi, hoping to reach Cairo successfully. However, along the way they run into many obstacles that interrupt their journey. By solving these difficult tasks, they learn life lessons important to survival.
Oppression of African American men and women in the United States is largely responsible for the well-known stereotype of white male owners in the late decades of slavery. Wide spread racial supremacy modeled character traits for both fictional and historical characters in American literary history. Mr. Gaudet from property by Valerie Martin and Dr. Flint from Incidents in the life of a slave girl by Harriet Jacobs share three main character traits typical of that for a white slave owner in America: unmerciful, domineering and amoral.
Analyzing the narrative of Harriet Jacobs through the lens of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du bois provides an insight into two periods of 19th century American history--the peak of slavery in the South and Reconstruction--and how the former influenced the attitudes present in the latter. The Reconstruction period features Negro men and women desperately trying to distance themselves from a past of brutal hardships that tainted their souls and livelihoods. W.E.B. Du bois addresses the black man 's hesitating, powerless, and self-deprecating nature and the narrative of Harriet Jacobs demonstrates that the institution of slavery was instrumental in fostering this attitude.
Based on the concerns of Ryan’s early adolescence problems with his speech, physical development delay, and his overall developmental history, you can identify the previous psychosocial stages that might have presented difficulty for him. The psychosocial stage of industry was difficult for Ryan. In the Industry crisis, Ryan was supposed to learn new skills and pick it up fast, but instead he was having a hard time in understanding his school work. So instead of Ryan going by his prime adaptive ego quality to keep him moving forward, he went off of his core pathology that caused him to have difficulty in the next stage of life (Newsman,
In “The Trial of Girlhood” and “A Perilous Passage In the Slave Girl’s Life” Jacobs’s narrative emphasizes the problems that are faced by female slaves. She shares the sexual abuses that are commonly practiced by slave master against young female slaves. She does this through revealing the unique humiliation and the brutalities that were inflicted upon young slave girls. In this narrative we come to understand the psychological damage caused by sexual harassment. We also realize how this sexual harassment done by the slaveholders went against morality and “violated the most sacred commandment of nature,”(Harriet 289)as well as fundamental religious beliefs.
A narrative that describes a young girl's trails and tribulations while being an involuntary member of the institution of slavery, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl attempts to open many eyes to the world of slavery. The author, Harriet Jacobs, wishes those in north would do more to put a stop to the destructive practice entitled slavery. As Jacobs states, slavery contains a de-constructive force that effects to all who surround it. It tears apart families (both white and black). Jacobs confronts her reader one on one in order to reemphasize her point. In addition, she uses the family and sentiment to appeal to and challenge her 19th century white female readers in order to effectively gain their support in the movement for abolition.