English Literature (Classic and Modern): Thesis and Prewriting - Essay Example

?English Literature ic and Modern Thesis and Prewriting. Thesis: Linda’s story contains the important lesson that freedom might be an achievable goal for male slaves, but female slaves could never be really free. Introduction The book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, is a thinly disguised autobiography which belongs to the genre of literature called “Slave narratives”. The aim of these narratives was to inform readers what life was like for this group of people, and show how harmful slavery was for everyone involved. The genre usually carries a strong moral message, often describing a journey through many trials and tribulations from slavery to freedom. Most slave narratives recount the experiences of male slaves, who risked their lives to escape and travel to the North. This slave narrative is from the female perspective, however, and it shows slavery of two kinds: the physical kind, suffered by men and woman, and another, more insidious mental slavery which affected women more deeply than men. The physical wounds caused by beatings could heal with time, but the psychological damage that slavery inflicted on innocent people was much harder to overcome. The book shows how one woman struggled with this challenge, and was for ever marked by slavery, even though she managed to gain her physical freedom and move to the North. The story starts out in an innocent and fairly light fashion, as the narrator, Linda, which is the first person persona that Harriet Jacobs used to refer to herself, relates her memories of earliest childhood. The opening line “I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away” (p. 11) illustrates how some African Americans managed to shield their children from the negative effects of slavery, for a time at least. This childhood within a secure family environment, with a respected father who earned real money, and a beloved mother and grandmother, turns out to have been a defining experience for Linda. As she grows up and learns through bitter experience what it is to be a slave, beaten, oppressed and treated like an object to be bought and sold, she remembers this happy childhood and resolves to recreate this for her own family in due course, no matter how difficult this turns out to be. The opening page of the novel touches upon the basic idea underpinning slavery: the classification of people according to race, not only in terms of black and white, but in terms of various shades in between, as indicated by the description of her parents who “were a light shade of brownish yellow, and were termed mulattoes” (p. 11). According to this system of classification white people were accorded a superior role. Linda’s description of her brother William as “a bright, handsome lad, nearly white; for he had inherited the complexion my grandmother had derived from Anglo-Saxon ancestors” (p. 12) shows that Linda has unconsciously absorbed many of the values and judgements of the whole racist system. In this world, to be white is a good thing, and conversely to be black, or partially black, is something bad. The abuse suffered by African American slaves in the South is well documented in scholarly literature, but very often the different dimensions of treatment meted out to men and women is not very clear from the historical records. This very personal and moving tale, told from the point of view of a women who suffered much, and witnessed more, makes the history books come alive. One notable incident illustrates the particular effect that slavery had on women, both those who kept slaves, and those who were slaves. Linda is shocked when she is transplanted into the household of Dr Flint, who is an example of the worst kind of slave owner: cruel and selfish, quick to punish his slaves, and caring little for their welfare. Linda is saddened by the behavior of the wife of Dr Flint. She notes that “Mrs Flint ... could sit in her easy chair and see a woman whipped, till the blood trickled from every stroke of the lash” (p. 12) Linda contrasts this incredible strength of her mistress’s nerves with the apparent weakness of body that Southern women had: “She had not the strength to superintend her household affairs.” (p. 12) For Mrs Flint, the twisted behavior of her gluttonous husband made her bitter and resentful towards younger female slaves, who were so obviously attractive to her husband in a way that she was not. The paradox of her public profession of Christian faith, and her private pettiness and jealousy is exposed by Linda’s ironic observations, and this is one of the most interesting psychological points in the book. Slavery turns everything on its head, and corrupts everyone, so that those who have power feel obliged to express it in cruelty. But the intelligent observation of one slave woman sees through the pretences, and identifies the hypocrisy that lies beneath. The truth is that the slave is superior to the slave owner, because she spots the contradictions, and the injustices, and makes efforts to break out of this oppressive system. Women like Linda were not spared physical torment, and to this was added the threat of sexual mistreatment. Moral behavior was expected of female slaves, despite the terrible suffering they had to endure. A sense of right and wrong has been part of Linda’s upbringing by her mother and then her grandmother. Linda says; “... and though one of God’s most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered.” (p. 18) For Linda, then, the one freedom that she absolutely will not relinquish is the freedom to reject the advances of Dr Flint. This is a difficult thing to achieve, because she has very little option but to do as she is told by the Flint family, but in spite of everything, she manages to hold on to this resolve as if it defines her own self-worth. This shows that she is taking control of one tiny aspect of her destiny, and making this into a key to her conduct. Because of the negative experience of being pursued by Dr Flint, Linda thinks of slavery as a personification of evil male power: “I was struggling alone in the powerful grasp of the demon slavery” (p. 39). In order to avoid the clutches of one master, Dr Flint, she jumped into the clutches of a lesser evil, Mr Sands. This, she knows, is wrong, but she argues that the situation of slavery is an extenuating circumstance: “I feel that the slave woman ought not to be judged by the same standard as others.” (p. 40) This dilemma highlights the difference between male and female slaves: women alone suffer the indignity of bearing the children of their masters, and thus entering into a shameful bond that demonstrates their submission to a white master. Only a white man could give her children freedom, and so Linda gave herself to such a white man. This shameful trade is what causes Linda to lose the respect of her grandmother. Linda hears the bitter words from Grandmother “You are a disgrace to your dead mother” (p. 56) which shows that the absolute morality of Christianity is being applied to her. Linda herself does not think this is justified, arguing “There may be sophistry in all this; but the condition of a slave confuses all principles of morality, and, in fact, renders the practice of them impossible” (p. 39). Shame was the force that Linda could not escape from. Her grandmother would not forgive her, but only pity her, which shows that the consequences for a woman succumbing to “the demon slavery” cannot be made good. The fate of male slaves, on the other hand, who are unencumbered by children, is altogether more hopeful. They could run away and start a new life. Linda’s uncle Benjamin escapes and builds a new life in the north, much to the pride and satisfaction of Linda’s grandmother. He is allowed to turn his back on his family and set off on his own journey, making what compromises he sees fit to recreate himself in a new environment. This shows a certain double standard in the treatment of men and women within the slave community itself, and it disadvantages women because of the ties they feel towards their children. Another way of looking at this is to compare the flight that Benjamin takes, with the flight that Linda takes. While the man removes himself physically, and permanently, Linda only retreats to various hiding places. It may seem a paradox, but Linda finds freedom from the pressures of life a slave in a voluntary seclusion: “It is not surprising that both literal and figurative enclosures proliferate in Jacobs’s narrative... Jacobs explicitly describes her escape as a progression from one small space to another.” (Smith, 1991, pp. 30-31) This space, which is physically indicated in the attic hiding place, is called by Linda a “loophole.” In a figurative sense this is a tiny gap in the system of control that slavery exerts over enslaved women. In chapter 21 there is a full description of the characteristics of this very special space. It is tiny, dark and very cramped, to the extent that it causes physical pain, but on the other hand it is safe. It is out of harm’s way, and in her desperation Linda clings to this tiny, womb-like space of safety, punishing her body but gathering mental strength for her final journey to the North. She has no access to light or to fresh air, but what gives her strength is the sound of her children’s laughter as they play outside, not knowing their mother is concealed inside the roof. Giving herself to this physical imprisonment releases her from the mental pressures of being pursued by white male slave owners and made to do their bidding. The ending of the book shows that Linda’s journey was not one of darkness to light – but of light (when as a child she did not realize she was a slave) via the shame of bearing a white man’s children, to the successive dark places where she is forced to hide. Freedom when it comes, is limited, and does not remove the shadows of the past, and the separation from her children, who are a reminder of her loss of dignity and respect. Linda experiences a trip to Europe, and marvels at the freedoms enjoyed by people there, but it serves only to show her what she can never attain for herself and her own children. She must always be satisfied with partial solutions, bargaining one part of herself so that another part can be free, and trading her own freedom for benefits which she passes on to her children. This is a disturbing book, because it shows that for an African American female slave, freedom is circumscribed by her love for her children. She cannot ever be truly free, because she is bound to the morally chaotic world of slavery through her children. The only slim sign of hope in the book is the chance that the next generation, that of Linda’s children might finally be fully free. Linda’s apprehension about telling her daughter about the past, and about her father, turns out to be unwarranted, since Ellen has long since come to terms with the circumstances of her birth. It seems then that Linda’s bargain with the demon of slavery will in the end provide freedom for her children, if not for herself. References Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston, 1861. Reprinted, Harvard University Press, 1987. Smith, Valerie. Self-discovery and authority in Afro-American narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991. Read More