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Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Analysis

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In my original forum post for Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” I had mentioned my horror at Jacob’s quote towards the end of the novel. “Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage. I and my children are now free! We are as free from the power of slave holders as are the white people of the north; and though that, according to my ideals, is not saying a great deal, it is a vast improvement in my conditions.” It’s tough for me to accept that after all the hardships that Brent (Jacobs) had gone through; the death of her mother, being forced into sexual relations with her new owner Dr. Flint, being sent to be a field hand, fearing the future of her children, having to hide in an attic from an abusive …show more content…

Sands. It was easy to pretend that he was on Brent’s side until you remember that there is no such thing as a “good slave owner.” Even though Mr. Sands never abused Brent in the way that Dr. Flint did, he still betrays Brent when profitable to him. We can pretend that Mr. Sands was a good guy, he originally planned on freeing Brent and his slave children, but actions speak louder than words ever will. How could a slave owner ever be considered “good?” The mere fact that they own slaves speaks about their character. No person with a sense of morality would ever “own” another a person; even if it is what “you just did” back then. Anybody who could profit off the enslavement of another person is a good person in my book. To me Mr. Sands is no better than Dr. Flint was. Sure Dr. Flint was viscous and corrupt, but that’s what happens when you let power go to your head. I find Mr. Sands to be more dangerous, he was more of a talker than an action taker. He conceived with Brent yet never felt real love for these children. Who in the right mind would even consider selling their own children in slavery? Definitely not anybody with a compassionate bone in their body. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was a good read, that was hard to bear. Not because of the writing style or flow the story, instead because of the

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