Mr. Nors Analysis

Most commonly slave narratives were written by men compared to women, primarily focused on the physical pain and endurance they experienced. Narratives that were written by men included descriptions of whippings along with other punishments that were known to deprive male slaves of their masculinity. Even though both men and women were beaten, starved and forced to work in the fields, women slaves suffered horrible mental abuse such as sexual harassment and the loss of their children. Usually, one of the central themes of a slave narrative is violence which is present in both of these books however in slightly different ways. Even though the main motif in the Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is not violence, violence is still portrayed periodically throughout. For example, Linda heard other slaves not only being whipped but also being burned or frozen to death. The physiological, mental and emotional abuse that slaves experienced was not always fully illustrated in narratives like physical abuse was, however in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl it is a consistent theme.

Harriet Jacobs wrote, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” using the pseudonym Linda Brent, and is among the most well-read female slave narratives in American history. Jacobs faces challenges as both a slave and as a mother. She was exposed to discrimination in numerous fronts including race, gender, and intelligence. Jacobs also appeals to the audience about the sexual harassment and abuse she encountered as well as her escape. Her story also presents the effectiveness of her spirit through fighting racism and showing the importance of women in the community.

When Linda was a child, she was not treated like a normal slave. This was due to the help of a grandmother, who was once a slave but earned so much respect and was loved by her master and mistress that she

In the story Dead End in Norvelt, the setting is a town in Pennsylvania called Norvelt, post World War 2 in the year 1962. I believe that this is the ideal setting for a novel such as this one, due to the fact that it defines the plot. For example, Jack Gantos is helping Mrs.Volker look at the dead original founding members of Norvelt and write obits for them. For the majority of the book, this is the focus, and the plot is centered around this one fact. If the setting had not been in this time period, then perhaps the older member would not be around, or they would all be around and there would be no plot in the story.Also, this allows for everything to be possible in this town. This is due to the fact that Jack is very rooted in this time

Although slaves were able to obtain religious agency, they were still oppressed due to the different kinds of abuse they experienced such as emotional abuse. In Charity Bowery by Lydia Maria Child, Child is retelling a story of an aged colored woman, Charity Bowery, from New York. In Bowery’s story she says, “Sixteen children I’ve had, first and last; and twelve I’ve nursed for my mistress. From the time my first baby was born, I always set my heart upon buying freedom for some of my children. I thought it was of more consequence to them than to me; for I was old, and used to being a slave. But mistress McKinley wouldn’t let me have my children. One after another - one after another - she sold ‘em away from me. Oh, how many times that woman ‘s broke my heart!”(Child, p 12). Bowery is explaining to Child the various times her owner would not allow her to purchase her own children. Bowery had to endure that pain of seeing her children be sold away, one after another. This can be seen as mental abuse because Bowery had some hope that she would be able to purchase at least one of her children 's’ freedom, but was not able to do so. Instead, she had to watch her children be taken away from her. Because of this mental abuse, Bowery was oppressed due to the fact that she was not allowed to buy any of her children, and was given false hope. Mental abuse is also seen in Josiah Henson’s autobiography when he says, “ The day for the execution of the penalty was appointed. The Negroes

Frederick Douglass stresses the lack of humanity of these slave owners by analyzing the way relationships between children and parents are diminished. Douglass attempts to comprehend what effect mother-child separation has done and concludes “… I do not know, unless it be to hinder the development of the child’s affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child. (p.237)”. Despite this, Douglass’s mother would walk 12 miles to lie next to him and leave before he woke up (p. 237). She dies when Douglass is seven years old and he “received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger. (p.237)”. Douglass further compares this detachment to that of his father and other slave owner who have slave children. He states “… slaveholders have ordained, and by law established that

He believed female slaves were not only workers for the masters but also outlets for sexual frustration. Women did not only endure sexual abuse by their masters, they also had the responsibility of bearing children to increase their masters' wealth. These women were treated as animals, being bought for child bearing. Frederick Douglass exemplifies this attitude toward female slaves through the story of a slave named Caroline. Douglass stated that her master, Mr. Covey "bought her, as he said, for a breeder" (72).

When she was older she was treated like the other slaves and was put in to hard work that grown men should be doing. When she was 7 she had to take care of a baby whenever the baby cried she would be yelled at and even whipped. The text states that ” One morning she was getting yelled at in breakfast that she had snapped and ran away To the pig den and she had stayed there for 5 days eating the potato peels and scrapes of food and she also had to wrestle the Pigs for the food”. After the five days she had decided to come back and she knew that she would be in trouble but she had to go

The slave women's choices in life were not limited to her happiness, but she had to think about her children. A mother had different responsibilities that she had to deal with. By having to deal with sexual abuse and thinking about children women were less able to leave their chains and people behind. According to Deborah Gray White in "Aren't I a Women?","...for those fugitive women who left children in slavery, the physical relief which freedom brought was limited compensation for the anguish they suffered."(White.62)

During the time of slavery, not only were African Americans were treated unfairly, but their women had it worse at times; African American women would be raped would be raped by their owners, or be trafficked around from man to man (Browne-Marshall). The white man was seen as evil, disgusting and cruel, so being a black woman carrying a white man’s child was basically

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

In the book, Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl, Linda Brent tells a spectacular story of her twenty years spent in slavery with her master Dr. Flint, and her jealous Mistress. She speaks of her trials and triumphs as well as the harms done to other slaves. She takes you on the inside of slavery and shows you the Hell on Earth slavery really was. She tells you the love and

Harriet Jacobs, in her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery in the south. While her youth contained “six years of happy childhood,” a few tragedies and mistresses later, Jacobs spent many years in pain under the possession of her cruel five-year-old mistress, Emily Flint, and Emily’s father, Dr. Flint. Once able to obtain freedom, Jacobs spent most of her life working for the Anti-Slavery office in New York, in hope that one day she could make a difference in the world. “She sought to win the respect and admiration of her readers for the courage with which she forestalled abuse and for the independence with which she chose a lover rather than having one forced on her” (Jacobs 921). Linda Brett, the pseudonym that Jacobs uses to narrate her life story, endures the harsh behavior women slaves were treated with in the south during the nineteenth century. The dominant theme of the corruptive power and psychological abuse of slavery, along with symbolism of good and evil, is demonstrated throughout her narrative to create a story that exposes the terrible captivity woman slaves suffered. The reality of slavery in the past, versus slavery today is used to reveal how the world has changed and grown in the idea of racism and neglect.

The life of a slave woman is far more complex than that of a slave man, although understandably equal in hardships, the experience for a woman is incredibly different. The oppression that women have faced throughout their lives in the struggle to even be considered equal to men is more than evident in slavery, not only because they were thought of as lesser but in some ways many women actually believed it to be true. The experiences that Linda Brent, pseudonym for the author Harriet A. Jacobs, went through in her life story in Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl prove that the difficulties for slave women were more than significant in many different cases. For Linda Brent, her life had been a constant fight since she was six years old

     When her father passed away she had nobody to tell her what to do and how to act. This was very devastating and she had a hard time dealing with change. So much so that she wouldn't let the police take the body of her father out of the house for three days after his death. The only thing that was constant in her house was the slave