Laban Myth Chapter Summary

“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…entirely subject to the will of another.” Jacobs’ story conveyed pathos, or emotional appeal, as she spoke directly to her readers several times throughout the narrative. Her language choice affected the audience's emotional response, especially when they became aware that she was telling the truth. Jacobs was willing to share her personal, and in some ways shameful, past for the greater good. She wanted her readers to understand the perils of enslavement, and try to relate to what it feels like to be owned by another human being. Only then could they sympathize with the antislavery movement.

Throughout Douglass’ speech, he recalls countless brash events that occur repeatedly during his enslavement. Within his first two paragraphs, Douglass uses repetition scarcely. He recounts the corporeal work conditions of Mr. Covey, and how Mr. Covey succeeds as he continuously denigrates and minimizes Douglass. In the third paragraph, Douglass displays his distaste of his slave holders as he seems to organize thoughts through striking harsh repetitive language when compared to the majority of his speech. As said, “O God, save me! God, deliver me. Let me be free! Is there any God?” As he repeats the word “God” he hints at an echo as he implies and argues his own solution. Douglass’ plea alludes to the idea that leading by example is inadequate, and he strives to impel God to intervene. Douglass also questions God. Douglass’ speech suggests a slave’s success is portrayed by his outer strength, not his inner struggles. Slaves must not defend concerns, but avoid attacks and choose submission.

Society’s systematic dehumanization of slaves claims that their lives are not their own, but rather belong to their oppressors. For instance, Jacobs’s cousin Benjamin decides to escape from his masters who equate him and his people to “dogs, […] foot-balls, cattle, [and] everything that [is] mean” and taunts them by saying, “Let them bring me back. We don’t die but once” (27). By metaphorically comparing slaves to dogs and pieces of property, he reveals how little slave owners care about their charges. Rather than remaining under the control of such oppression, Benjamin decides to live and die on his own terms at the risk of capture and punishment, because

By reading the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, one is able to further their knowledge of certain aspects of slavery that aren’t always talked about. In this work, one is able to learn more about what Frederick Douglass has to face as a slave, and even what he faces once he escapes. There should be absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind that Frederick Douglass—and every slave—faces many hardships throughout their lives. Even so, Douglass remains optimistic that what he faces will lead to a better outcome: “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.” This quote applies to many of the hardships he’s faced, as he is often able to take a bad situation and make something good out of it. While

The punishments from slave owners are just as cruel as the living conditions. Jacob’s brother, Benjamin, attempts to run away to the North in search of freedom, but is captured and brought back in chains (9). Jacobs and her grandmother are occasionally able to see him during his time in jail, but Jacobs remembers a story of Benjamin’s jailing by writing, “One day he was heard to sing and laugh. This piece of indecorum was told to his master, and the overseer was ordered to re-chain him” (9). The owner purposely chains him up for finding a spec of joy in his life as property. Jacobs also shares a brutal experience she witnesses. She witnesses a woman giving birth to her first child, but the woman is begging God take her and her newborn, so they can be free from slavery. The woman's mistress looked on with a grin (3-4). Her writings are sometimes hard to read, but they show just how horrific these slave-owners treat them. The owners wanted their slaves to feel like they deserve it, and as if the slaves are no better than the dirt they walk on. Douglass explains further by writing, “He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel

“Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you are good, bad things can still happen. And if you are bad, you can still be lucky.’ I could see what he thought: that my faith in justice was childish, no more useful here than tires on a horse. I felt the breath of God grow cold on my skin” (Kingsolver 310). From the very start of the book, Leah worshipped her father and Father. She associated one with the other, losing faith in both when she lost faith in one. As she grows more connected with the Congolese, witnesses injustice, and grows farther away from her father, Leah’s faith is tested

“To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it: the pains of power are real, its pleasures imaginary” said Charles Caleb Colton. Slavery reared its ugly head on millions within the U.S., the masters and overseers of those slaves all the while holding a power that was especially evil. Frederick Douglass, one of the millions, documented his time as a slave in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his time as a slave, Douglass faced numerous hardships. His owners sought to dehumanize him and take away any sense of freedom that he would find within himself.

At the start Leah is as loyal to Jesus as she is to her Father-one may see them as the same entity in the novel. Leah and her family move from the sheltered Georgia to the African Congo where they must learn to survive this new environment. Total removal from one’s home is not an easy adjustment which makes room for growth. As a child Leah see’s her Father as almighty and strives for his approval in all aspects. When her Father merely acknowledges her as he plans to garden she is thrilled by “the mere fact of his speaking to me” and how he does so in a “gentle” manner (77). Leah Price begins her journey as obedient and innocent to the real world from her isolated life her Father has instilled in her; little did she know what was to unfold.

She longed for his approval, while Nathan busied himself yearning for God’s. The changing factor was the natural elements of the Congo, which severely altered their dysfunctional relationship. Leah began to see Nathan’s true colors due to his blatant disinterest in the well being of his family. Despite their impending danger following the Independence of the Congo, the lack of basic living necessities, never ending rumble of empty bellies, ghostly pale skin, and lifeless bodies,even death could not encourage Nathaniel abandon his mission and Kilanga. Ruth May’s death by a green mamba, Leah began to despise her stubborn, father and everything he supports. Subsequent to her dear little sister’s demise, Leah no longer viewed Nathan as a man who could do no wrong, and likewise her faith in Christ dwindled. “I found I couldn’t picture God at all. He just ended up looking like my father (Kingsolver 423). Leah 's image of God became warped due to the teachings of her father which caused her adult self to abandon Christianity altogether. Nathan 's version of Christ was an unmerciful tyrant, which uncoincidentally mirrored Nathan. She began to rebel against her father and his ideals. Leah outwardly disobeyed her father and his wishes when she hunted with the village men in spite of her father telling her she couldn 't and defied the gender roles prevalent in the Price household and Kilanga. Leah began to live for herself and

“He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” (33) He is discussing his masters justification for beating a young slave several times. Although Frederick Douglass is not citing anything directly from the bible that condones slavery , his allusions to the bible and the way he collocates the passage with the cruel actions of his master draws a shocking picture in the audience's minds.Frederick Douglass presents the contrast between a biblical quote, Usually used when a worker disobeys the orders of his master, thereby showing the audience that souvenirs are wrong using the bible to justify their atrocious actions. Its due to these allusions that Frederick Douglass adds another layer of credibility to his argument and thus, persuades the audience that there is no religious justification for slavery.

Frederick Douglass and his importance to the abolitionist message cannot be understated. He rose above his shackled station in the world and became “unmanageable” (Jacobus 330). He aspired to be more than a slave, emerged to educational levels that they’d been beaten to forget, and he gave them a voice (Jacobus 332) . One of the most striking messages in Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave therefore is his adept narration of the relationship between slave and master. Examining this narration through Marxist theory, it becomes clear that class-consciousness and false consciousness can be seen in the master and slave relationship.

In using these words, Douglass forces the reader to visualize Henny, the lame woman and her deep agony as she hangs from the ropes, just like our savior Jesus Christ hung from the cross, spilling warm red blood, before being removed from existence. These thoughts and images conjured by Douglass’s diction lead the modern reader to see how wrong the owners of slaves were in their position of quoting misunderstood scripture. This realization regarding religious hypocrisy is again evident shortly after Master Thomas becomes a very devout Methodist, and frequently invites the preachers to meals with him. Here, the reader learns just how disgusting this aspect of slavery was: “His house was the preachers’ home. They used to take great pleasure in coming there to put up; for while he starved us, he stuffed them” (Douglass 50). In this passage, Douglass's diction is well executed in a way that hits hard for the reader. He uses the words, starved and stuffed, to really convey the message that the preachers were leaving the house full, while Douglass and the fellow slaves, were given not a scap. Douglass, chooses these words specifically, so that a clear image is drawn in the reader's mind. Douglass’s diction in this passage strongly enforces the reader’s new knowledge regarding religious hypocrisy in slavery by showing

Throughout the novel Jacob changes a lot, he goes from the quiet one to a leader for his friends, Jacob’s actions proves that he changes, from Jacob’s change he learns he is really loyal to all his friends, he cares for each one of them.

I never really paid attention to slavery as I did right now. I heard, of course, of all the basic details of it like everyone else and hated the idea of it, but after reading this story, it really hit me on what slaves went through back in the day. In the novel “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, Harriot Jacob chronically writes about her personal struggles and sufferings and that of her families throughout the better portion of her life from childhood to adulthood. Throughout this revealing story, this brave and courageous woman opens my eyes on the extent of the extreme hardships, unfairness, and cruelty that many slaves have faced and lived through every day and every hour with just the hope and faith in God to get them

The inconsistencies and importance of religion are reocurrences in both The Narrative and Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Augustine St Clare (a character from Uncle Tom’s Cabin) and Frederick Douglass (who is at this time is a slave) seem to have similar viewpoints on religious slave owners. Both St Clare and Douglass see religion as being defiled by the twisted words of slave owners. Frederick describes an incident of a slave beating to portray his message. “I have said my master found religious sanction for his cruelty. He’d tie up a lame young woman and whip her...cutting her in places already made raw with his cruel lash.(p33)” All off this Master Thomas justifies by quoting scripture. “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.(p33)” This