Review of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl A Review Harriet Jacobs wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to inst exclusively northerlyern free people what was actually happening to strivers. She hoped her eyewitness stories would incline them that they should speak up against sla very and unite in the effort to peculiarity it. She was especially interested in showing free white women the disparity between her life and theirs. She wanted them to see that legion(predicate) things they took for given were denied slave girls and women.Jacobs was asking free people to look at slaveholding done her eyes and imagine the pain, both physical and emotional, that she and other slaves were laboured to endure. notwithstanding though she was a slave, her first six years were clever ones. Her grow had skills that made him valuable to the white people so he was allowed to a greater extent freedom than the aver come along slave. Her grand bugger off was the daughter of a slave holder. Sh e was granted freedom but then recaptured. She was allowed to make money by change crackers after(prenominal) her slave duties were done.An injustice Jacobs describes early in her guard is the pain suffered by slave families who are separated when one segment is auctioned off to the highest bidder. She tells about this happening to her grandmother who helplessly watched as her watchword was auctioned off at the age of ten for $720. Jacobs knew the pain of a family organism torn apart would weaken a free womans stand on slavery. Males were auctioned off more(prenominal) than females because owners were more likely to time lag females as sex partners and to father children by them.Slave owners made promises to slaves but neer felt obligated to keep those promises. Jacobs grandmother had been promised freedom when her mistress died. The executor of the 2 estate, Dr. Flint, instead sold her for $70. In spite of what the will said, he got aside with selling her because she was property and no one held him responsible for this unlawful act. She besides was never repaid when she lent her life savings to her mistress. Two of the to the highest degree cooling events Jacobs reports witnessing are on pages 15 and 16.She tells of a male slave who was savagely beaten by Dr. Flint because the slave argued with his wife after determination out their child was really the son of Dr. Flint. She goes on to tell the fabrication of a vernal slave girl in labor delivering her attains child. The masters wife stood by mocking the young girl as the newborn died. The slave girls mother watched as her only child in addition died during child birth. Jacobs wrote, The poor bare woman had but the one child, whose eyes she saw closing in death, while she thanked God for taking her away from the greater bitterness of life. practically of the book explains Harriets attempts to avoid Dr. Flints sexual advances. When she reached the age of 15 he began a relentless pursuit of her. She was disgusted by his attention. She did not want to lose her virginity to her master as she saw many other slave girls do. She prayed for a way to get away from him. She endured the jealousy of Dr. Flints wife who recognized what was going on. She was in lamb with a free black man but her master prevent her to stimulate any contact with him. After she convinced her lover to go away, Harriet met Mr. littoral.She became intimate with him in another effort to escape the unwanted advances of Dr. Flint. She had children with Sands but still was not able to get free. Eventually she ran away. She hid for 7 years in a cramped crawl space at her grandmothers house. Jacobs goes into detail about her escape to the North and the people who were kind enough to help her in her efforts to stay in contact with her family and to stay hidden from Dr. Flint. He continued his search for her until he died. Jacobs then hid from his family who began a search for her. Harriet learned she co uldnt depend on Mr.Sands for help in getting their children 3 freed. She lived for a time with Isaac and Amy extend who were activists working for the Underground Railroad. Eventually a woman named Mrs. Bruce bought Harriet Jacobs from Flints children for $300 and she gave her her freedom. Her grandmother got to see Harriet free but died shortly after that. Harriet found out that her children, Emily and William, already knew things like who their real father was and where she had been privacy for all those years.Jacobs is very graphic when she describes slavery and the terrible treatment of slaves. She is very good at detailing her thoughts and reactions to the horrible things she saw and experienced. She reminds free women that most women bring in the same dream of a loving husband, children and a happy home. She also makes it clear that only free women can live their dream. She often expresses the belief that slavery is worse than death. On page 47 she challenges obscure read ers to visit the South and witness the injustice of slavery for themselves.Im certain(p) that the book does not include all the events that made Harriet Jacobs who she was. There were probably some good memories she could have shared but that would not have supported her argument or fulfilled her purpose. It is not clear to me why Dr. Flint was constantly asking for Harriets affection and never forced her to have sex with him. He did with other slave girls. I approve if he actually loved her and wanted her to submit to him willingly. He also searched for her for many years until his death. Why didnt he just baffle her as he believed he had a right to?This book is subdued to read, interesting, and well written. I dont really believe a slave could write that well though. I also doubt she could have lived in a crawl space for seven years without more serious physical and mental harm. Some things might have been hyperbolize to accomplish the authors goal. She succeeds in showing re aders how unjust slavery was. Its a good book because, even today, we need to be reminded about how ignorant, cruel and evil people can be. Not all of Americas history is good. We should never forget how the slaves suffered.