Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Woman Analysis

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a slave narrative written by Harriet Ann Jacobs is highly commended for the portrayal of women during the excruciating times of slavery. Disregarding that the slave narrative was initially written for the audience of Caucasian women, “…, as white women constituted Jacobs’s primary audience at the time she wrote her narrative” (Larson,742) the struggles of being a female slave were emphasized throughout the narrative. Harriet Ann Jacobs elaborates on slave women’s worth being diminished. In the slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by Harriet Ann Jacobs, the theme of the perils of slavery for women was portrayed by women being viewed

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs strongly speaks to its readers by describing the brutalities of slavery and the way slave owners can destroy peaceful lives. After reading and rereading the story have noticed certain things regarding how Jacobs tries to educate her readers and her intended audience which is the women of the North. As if we do not know enough about how terrible slavery is, this story gives detailed examples of the lives of slaves and provokes an incredible amount of emotions. She uses several tactics in her writing to reach her desired audience and does so very well.

Slavery offered blacks an era of misfortune, giving them a time of fear, pain, and absolute control from the hands of a slave owner. There are countless stories, each with their own ballad of misery and, in some rare occasions, victory in the form of freedom, but it was not as common.

Back in the 1800s, what individuals suffered the most? African American individuals weren 't even considered to be humans or "individuals" based on the way how they were treated. African American slaves were transported in boats across the sea, with a limited amount of space and sanitation. At the end, during their ownership of white masters, African Americans lost everything and by everything I mean morals, dignity, and "their bodies". Usually these slaves died or suffered because they were traumatized, other slaves that gained their morals, dignity and bodies survived his stage in humanity and fought for their freedom. The ones that were lucky and were taught by their white masters how to read and write, decided to write about their story and publish it. This didn’t only affect African American males and females but it also affected the morals of white men and women. At the end of the day, race and gender influenced the lives of individuals and how they were treated in society.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, depicts the story of Harriet Jacobs and her journey through a horrific life of slavery. She chooses to tell her story through the eyes of a character named Linda Brent. Harriet tells her life story nearly from start to finish, opening with the depiction of her life as a very young girl born into slavery. Continuing into her young adult years, and ultimately ending with hope for a future free from slavery in her later years. The experiences Linda faces are unimaginable and heartbreaking. As the readers, we not only get to see the culture of the time period that came with Linda 's life, but we also witness what Linda learns about herself though this story. These realizations provide reflection on the

In "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", Harriet Jacobs writes, "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women" (64). Jacobs' work shows the evils of slavery as being worse in a woman's case by the gender. Jacobs elucidates the disparity between societal dictates of what the proper roles were for Nineteenth century women and the manner that slavery prevented a woman from fulfilling these roles. The book illustrates the double standard of for white women versus black women. Harriet Jacobs serves as an example of the female slave's desire to maintain the prescribed virtues but how her circumstances often prevented her from practicing.

When slavery was present in the United States, life was very hard for many slaves. They would spend their days working in the fields or in the home, doing whatever their master called upon. Slaveholders also held the power over their slaves treating them however they pleased. Most slaveholders were cruel which led to the slaves to do anything they could to avoid their master’s treatment and hope for a better life in the North. The North was filled with freedom, hope, desire and equality for people. It sounded like paradise to most slaves which was the proper motivation they needed to escape from their masters. Many slaves had goals of making in up North

Harriet Jacob was the first African American women to have authored a slave narrative in the United States and was instinctive into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina. Living a good life with her skilled carpentered father and her mother, Jacob didn’t much of being a slave. However, when her mother had passed away, Jacob and her father were reassigned to a different slave owner were her life as a women slave began. Because of this change, she fled to New York where she started working in the Anti-Slavery movement. During this period, she focused more on her family then she did the issue of slavery. Family is an emotional anchor in the Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl because Linda was devoted to her children. She uses symbolism, imagery, and allegory because she wants to demonstrate what families should be like.

In the narrative, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, Harriet Jacobs, who uses the pseudonym Linda Brent out of fear of recaptured and enslaved, killed, or even worse, details her life in transitioning as a young slave girl and ultimately, a free woman. In the beginning of the narrative, Linda (Harriet), an indentured Mulatto slave born of the mother and father who were also enslaved, and so grandmother, describes her life experience as one of any normal child, her and young brother, William. However, at age six, Linda loses her mother, and shorter after overhears that both, she, and William, were slaves. Linda and William, both lived with their mother’s foster sister turned mistress, who kept her promise of making sure she and William, never suffer for anything. At age twelve, the mistress of Linda’s deceased mother passes away, and gave Linda, to her sister’s daughter, of five years old.

No one in today’s society can even come close to the heartache, torment, anguish, and complete misery suffered by women in slavery. Many women endured this agony their entire lives, there only joy being there children and families, who were torn away from them and sold, never to be seen or heard from again.

she still offered her help to the members of the family in return for their

Life of a Slave Girl was a personal narrative written by Harriet Jacobs. herself, during the transgression that was slavery. Slavery had an overarching effect on Jacob’s life, including her own beliefs and emotions. This was somewhat inevitable given her captivation in which another person held the right to every aspect of her life, including her own happiness. A “sense of home” or Jacob’s core identity, is demonstrated as being her ongoing struggle with wanting the joy found in others as her own, which at times elicits strong feelings, such as envy. The argument can be made that her sense of home is a lack thereof. The depths in her own lack of joy and sadness due to her circumstance can be seen throughout her writings, some of which might

A question that is often asked is who as it worse, males or females this question has been asked since the beginning of human life. In the book “Incidents in the life of a slave girl” it goes through the life of an enslaved woman and how her life was set since at birth. She goes through the struggles of not only her but the people around her. Life was hard and horrible for all enslaved people, but it is often asked, like the original question, who had it worse enslaved males or enslaved females. As a female I may sound somewhat bias in my writing but will stay with the facts within the one book I have read to answer the question I believe that over all females had it the hardest.

The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a story about a girl named Linda Brent, who spent her early childhood in a happy home with her father and mother. Her life completely changed after the death of her mother. The six year old Linda was sent to live with her mother’s mistress, who treated her very well, taught her to read and write. Unfortunately, the happy days did not that last that long, her master died and Linda was sent to a relative of her master. Her new master, Dr. Flint was cruel and neglectful. He soon began to pressure Linda to have a sexual relationship with him. Over the course of the book, the author Harriet Jacobs discuss about her life as a woman slave living a cruel family, she also talks about the lives of other women slaves and the inhumane treatment that they have been through. Therefore, The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was more about the plight of enslaved women than the plight of enslaved African- American.

Cracker( person would whip slaves) , Flogging( the beating of someone with a stick or whip for punishment), are horrible concepts that depict the laments of chattel slavery in the United States. The gory nature of slavery depicted through most testimonies involve one of these horrific concepts. However, the book,” Incidents in the Life Of a Slave Girl”, show the lesser talked about psychological anguish Blacks would experience. In the Book we see Linda Brent (the protagonist) mental agony as she progressives through her narrative. Women that helped her mature life would be Mrs Flint, Aunty Nancy, and the mistress of her friend Betty. The order in which they impacted, is Mrs Flint gave her a more open-minded perspective on chattel slavery, Aunt nancy is the inspiration for Lindas escape, and Betty provides emotional support.