Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs - Book Report/Review Example

In “Incidents in the life of a slave girl”, Harriet Jacobs talks about the life of Linda Brent. Linda was born into a happy slave family and lived with her mother and father.  Six years afterward, Linda’s mother died, and Linda went to live with her mother’s mistress (Harriet 24). The mistress was a lovely woman who taught Linda how to read and treated her well. Her death makes Linda face real slavery.  Her mother bequeaths Linda to cruel relatives who are neglectful of her; from the first day, the master of the house, Dr. Flint, establishes his interest to have sex with Linda.

            Linda knew that finally, Flint will rape her, so she consents to a relationship with a neighbor, Mr. Sands. Linda agrees this is a shameful relationship, but she saw it as preferable to rape. This illicit affair begets two children, Benny and Ellen. On finding out about the relationship, Flint sends Linda to his plantation instead of selling her to Mr. Sands as Linda expected (Harriet 56). Linda hid in her grandmother’s house. Flint thought she escaped to the north and did not want to risk the disappearance of her children under his watch. He chose to sell them to a slave trader who was secretly representing Mr. Sands. Upon gaining custody, Mr. Sands promised Aunt Martha to free the children from slavery status and send them to live with her.

            Linda’s stay in the attic incapacitates her physically and emotionally. She can only watch her children play from a small window without letting them know she is there since Dr. Flint is still looking for her. Mr. Sand marries and becomes a congressional representative. He takes Ellen with him to Washington where he enslaves her to take care of his newborn baby. Linda realizes Mr. Sands might never free her children, and she thinks of a plan to free them. It is still risky for her to leave the attic as Dr. Flint is still looking for her. After seven years in a tiny attic, Linda succeeds to escape by boat to the south. Benny remains with Aunt Martha.  On getting to the south Linda, reunites with her daughter Ellen (Harriet 145). By then she was a slave for Mrs. Hobbs, and she feared Hobbs might take Ellen back to the south. Ellen goes to a boarding school and Benny moves to California.

            In “Incidents in the life of a slave girl,” Linda is the main character.  The author uses her to show how life was unbearable for slaves. Dr. Flint is a cruel slave owner. He intends to take advantage of Linda sexually. This shows the treatment masters gave to their slaves. Upon her escape, Dr. Flint still pursues Linda and even further claims ownership of her children as he claims the sale was illegitimate (Harriet 112). When he dies, Emily pursues her and her employer, Mrs. Bruce, purchases her as her slave. Mrs. Bruce treats her well, and it is under her custody she writes this book.

            This book is set in the traditional American society where human beings enslaved each other as some believed they were racially superior to others. This was the time when even the constitution allowed enslavement. The law allowed kidnapping and punishment of the escaped slaves. This is the beginning of the 19th century. The author uses the experience in England to introduce a new place and incorporate comparison in the book.

            In the book, there are several incidents where the author uses imagery to explain real environmental conditions. Imagery is used to depict the actual sounds, smells, and touches that make the reader experience the environment. The first instance where imagery is used is when the mother of a 6-year-old Linda dies (Harriet 23). Imagery is used to describe the poor Linda who is unwilling and miserable. Linda is described as being lonely and desperate, which forces her mother’s mistress to sympathize with her condition.