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Analysis Of Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Ann Jacobs

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The novel “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” was published in 1861 by Harriet Ann Jacobs. The novel takes a dive into Jacobs early and mid-life as she endured the terror of slavery. Jacobs orchestrates this book in a unique way to depict her story. She incorporates a fictional person by the name of “Linda Brent” to essentially be her, as she narrates. The main reason behind this method was for her to be a “spectator in her own life” (Jacobs 10). I personally find this technique to be a unique one considering how Linda Brent could represent multiple lives of slave girls. Meaning rather than Jacobs simply implementing her own name in the story, the context can be more universal. It can now serve as a depiction of what many slave girls went …show more content…

She was jubilant and gracious to be in an environment where she wouldn’t have to suffer the same things she did in the South. Although while it wasn’t as sinister and cruel as the South, Jacobs endured something else, that is, racial discrimination. On page 365, Jacobs states the following quote, “they do not allow colored people to go in the first-class cars.” This left Jacobs in a flabbergasted state as she didn’t expect this kind of occurrence in the North. She saw how even in the ‘good old North’ racial inequality was still present. Another obstacle that she ran into was trying to obtain a job. Now considering that she was black and also a woman, employment was certainly not the easiest to find. As well as, a lot of the job hiring required recommendations, which she really didn’t have. Jacobs later then states how she was blessed to obtain this nursey job that didn’t require any recommendation. This was something reminisced the time of where she would take care of her own kids when they were infants. Moving forward, Jacobs ran into more racial discrimination but this time she went about it a different way than before. At this tea place that she and Mrs. Bruce visited, Jacobs was told that she was in the wrong section to be served (Jacobs 387). But that didn’t stand too well with her, so she refused to leave unless the captain himself removes her (Jacobs 388). This occurrence expressed the bold and courageous attributes Jacobs gained via fleeing from slavery. She expresses so much of this attitude that it even persuades her employer (Mrs. Bruce) to treat her just like her other

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