Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Essay Example

The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Harriet Jacob’s autobiographical work, incidents in the life of a slave girl is a deeply moving story of a young girl who endures slavery at its worst. Linda, the main character, is a light skinned slave, this would make one think that her treatment will not be as bad as for the actual black skinned slaves, this is not the case. She lives happily of the first six years of her life in absolute bliss with her mother oblivious of the fact that she is a slave. Her mother then dies, and she had to go and live with her mother’s mistress who is young but very nice by the standards of slave owners back then. This mistress teaches Linda basic things like how to read and how to sew. Linda is very happy with her new mistress, but things take a turn for the worse when her mistress dies, and she has to live with another one. This new mistress, Emily Flint, is a five year old with a very revolting father, Dr. Flint. Linda’s story explains the problems that she encountered in the Flint household especially due to Dr, Flint, how she tried to escape on several occasions, but failed and how eventually, Dr. Flint dies and she obtains her freedom and is reunited wither children. This story fulfils three narrative story themes and three rhetorical purposes; this article will provide examples to this effect in order to try and understand the message Jacob was trying to relay to her readers through her story (Jacobs and Fleischner 53). Linda’s story endeavours to provoke the compassion of her readers in order to endorse humanitarianism. However, this is not done in the usual way of depicting a female as a weakling who just accepts all that is handed to her. Most writers attempt to bring out compassion in a character by using the stereotypical ‘damsel in distress’ role. In these cases, they portray a helpless woman who is at the mercy of her superiors or in this case slave owner. By describing the story through her saddened eyes, they are able to move the readers to who identify with her problems. Jacob, however, does the opposite of this. Linda is a strong-willed lady who is determined to get out of slavery no matter what the means (The slave narrative, 1). She is a witty lady who devises schemes in order to ensure that Dr. Flint sells her off which fail due to the meanness of the doctor. The narration of Linda’s tries and failures to escape slavery are both riveting and moving. Jacob’s approach to use an independent minded woman enables the readers especially the modern woman to relate to her struggles. By selecting a woman who is fearless and smart, she promotes humanitarianism, not in the usual way but in a new unique way that gives her story an edge. She achieves humanitarianism because the readers understand that Linda uses all the possible ways to get her freedom until she has no way out (Jacobs and Fleischner 130). Jacob, through her book, emphasizes traditional religious ideas. The book is set in the 1850s, a period when Christianity which is held in such high esteem. The traditional ideas on religion were followed without exception and anyone who did not obey them was considered defiant and often became alienated by their communities. An example that shows how important the religious ideal was is the fact that Linda was taught to read and write at an early age. Christianity introduced reading and writing during this time ("Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" 1). The fact that Linda has the chance to learn only what was reserved for the free white folk shows that the traditional Christian views. These ideas emphasized on the acquisition of new and basic skills such as reading writing and arithmetic. A woman during this time was expected to be well mannered, submissive and conservative. The subject of submissiveness especially was championed by the Christians in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Linda moves away from this religious ideal by agreeing to enter a relationship with Mr Sands, an unmarried white slave owner in a bid to get free of Dr Flint (Jacobs and Fleischner 117). She gets pregnant and hopes Flint will sell her off in disgust which does not happen. Linda says that she should not be judged with the same harshness as a free woman due to her actions. This shows the judgemental attitude that people who fell away from the religious standard were treated with. Through Linda’s actions, the author effectively brings out the traditional Christian notions that existed in the 1850s (The slave narrative 1). Jacob shows acceptance of the ideals of the dominant white society in her book. At this time, the white population grossly outnumbered the black people’s population in the country. For this reason, the white often had he final saying in several if not all the matters that came up. In addition to this, the black people who were slaves were considered less human than the whites, and that is why they served their white masters (Jacobs and Fleischner 109). Linda in this book shows how the notions of the white community were widely accepted even if they were rather untrue and unfounded. This book shows that it was perfectly all right for a master to harass his female slaves. For instance, Dr Flint, who wanted to have a sexual relationship with her even if she was very young. The ideal presented in this case was that slaves were considered objects rather than people who deserved respect, as such; the slave owner had the right to do anything he or she wanted to his or her slaves (The slave narrative 1). Throughout the narrative, Linda repeatedly hatches plans for her escape from slavery which are continually dashed by the white people. All through the book, Linda desires freedom, and she cleverly makes plans which are often very good. However, none of these plans succeeds because the whites continuously destroy them. One of the most notable of her plans in this narrative was when she decided to have a relationship with Mr Sands in order to get a child. She hoped that Dr Flint would be immensely angered by this actions and he would sell her to Sands at a measly price. However, Dr Flint dashes her hopes by refusing to sell her off; instead he consoles himself that, through Linda’s child, he will have gained an additional slave (Jacobs and Fleischner 90). Another illustration of this notion is when Sands buys Linda’s children after Dr Flint’s death. Linda thinks that he will set them free and that they will be reunited. As time passes, however, Linda realizes that Sands has no intention of setting her children free, and he intends for them to serve him and his family. Linda’s hopes are destroyed once again when she finds this out proving that her expectations were raised so many times only to have them dashed by the whites (The slave narrative 1). Jacob effectively describes the quest for freedom in this book through Linda’s eyes. From the onset of the narrative, Linda is portrayed as open minded and who does not understand why she should be a slave especially to a mistress much younger than she. She also yearns for freedom to get away from Dr Flint, who sexually harasses her, every chance he gets (Jacobs and Fleischnerm 78). Her idea is to escape slavery and build a home for her and her children where they can live together happily without interference from the white slave masters. She comes up with so many plans in order to obtain freedom all of which do not work much to her dismay. An illustration of such a plan is the relationship she has with Mr Sands in a bid to trick Dr Flint to get rid of her. Linda goes to great lengths to ensure that she does not go back to slavery. She hides in the Aunt Martha’s attic for seven years just waiting for the perfect time to escape. During this time, she does not have any contact wither children as she sees them only through the attic ("Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" 1). This is an incredibly painful experience for the mother, but she decided to persevere in order to obtain freedom which would reunite her and her children at last. The extent to which she values her freedom is evidenced when in the end; she refuses to accept Mrs Bruce’s help to reunite her with her children even if she knows that she has no means of doing this by herself. As much she loved her children and wanted to be reunited with them she also wanted to maintain her freedom which is the reason why she refused Mrs Bruce’s offer (The slave narrative 1). This book makes overt appeals to the audience’s imagination. This is achieved by the presentation of facts in such a way that provokes the thought, of the readers. Jacob offers the readers a narration that is irrefutably involving, and she achieves this by creating a connection with the readers (The slave narrative 1). For instance the period she stayed in the attic for seven years elicits serious thought; was her decision the best one for both her and her family? What repercussions could result from this decision? From such events in her book, Jacob appeals to the readers’ imagination (Jacobs and Fleischner 127). This book is an undeniable work of art that brings out all the intended themes in a slave narration. . Works Cited "The Slave Narrative." Public.wsu.edu, 2013. Web. 8 Dec 2013. . Jacobs, Harriet A and Jennifer Fleischner. Incidents in the life of a slave girl. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Print. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." Shmoop, 2013. Web. 8 Dec 2013. Read More