I actually found it quite sad how Jacobs did not know that she was a slave until later in her childhood. Her sheltered life led to her shock of the disturbing imagery of slavery during her adolescent years. I agree with the idea of losing innocence. She can no longer grasp the pure principles she learned in her childhood due to slavery. I cannot imagine how frustrating it would be to be in her position. She goes through several overwhelming events that left me anxious.
Sometimes I cannot comprehend the logic behind slavery, based on the reading. Jacob had to live in fear of Dr. Flint, she could not marry her lover, and is not seen as a whole person, but rather someone’s property. I definitely agree that her life seems horrible, and it also
The emotional and sexual abuse was awful for Jacobs. In her narrative she talks about how horrible it really was for women "My master began to whisper foul words in my ear." Her master told her she was property "He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things." She says how she had to give up their children "The children were sold to a slave-trader,
Knowing that in this time in history that not even white women were respected on the same level as men, how much greater then were women of color disrespected? Though she used a fake name—she still identified as an African American woman, which proves that not just any book would be published at the time if it were not of some truth. Jacobs’ life, a life of physical slavery, shows the parallels to the bondage humans have in
Even if you happen to have master that wasn’t as cruel to you, you were still a prisoner. Running away wasn’t simply an act of rebellion of a slave who wanted to get out of a bad job, it was the act of escaping a terrible, wrongfully gained lifestyle. They were fleeing for their lives and the lives of those who were closest to them. Jacobs has a two children that she was trying to get back to and who she didn’t want to end up working out in the fields as she had to. Her children were mixed raced, or “mulatto” which was the term that was coined back then for people who were interracial, but not to digress.
Jacobs rhetoric is pretty simple compared to other anti-slave writers such as Frederick Douglass. She does not use many metaphors or symbolism and gets her
Jacobs later began “to contribute her life story to the abolitionist cause in a way that would capture the attention of Northern white women in particular, to show how slavery debased and demoralized woman” (Baym, 921). Jacobs wrote an autobiography on her life as a slave little girl. In her book she described the kind of treatment African
But, unlike him, she had very good memories of her mistress, saying that“ she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of the slave, I bless her memory”. Jacobs’s mother and her mistress had gown up together since they were children and, when they became women, her mother was “a most faithful servant to her foster sister” (pg. 10). When Jacob’s mother died, the kind mistress had promised her that she would take care of her daughter and she would never let her suffer for anything. As a matter a fact, she kept her word, until her death, and although it was unlawful, she educated her slave. The mistress also taught her the precepts of God’s Word and treated her like she was one of her own daughters.
This meant that Jacobs life as a slave was worse that style of life that anyone could have; because she was a slave the fear of being raped or abused was always in her mind. Jacobs was dealt a life with a double edge sword; meaning that she did not have to be worry about being abused because her master did not allow it but her master had plans to make her his own when she came to age. Jacobs did not know the latter of her situation, therefore she like any woman of her time began to become a good woman. This consisted of he being pure holy and domestic. Since her purity was being saved for her master, her being a house slave the same as Douglass, also the love for god came easy to her; she believed that she was a good woman.
Jacobs had a distinct sexual vulnerability which Douglass did not have to face. Jacobs biography, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” recounted her experiences as women in slavery, “He peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of…I saw a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature. He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things” (Jacobs 6-7). This quote demonstrates the inhuman conditions in which Jacobs was forced to navigate in her life as a slave. Her master, who was vastly older, pursued her sexually, and she could do little to protect herself.
Jacobs was able to have her family near her for much of her life in slavery, particularly her grandmother. Jacobs writes,”To this grandmother I was indebted for many comforts.” (806). Jacobs also later mentions, “I was indebted to her for all my comforts, spiritual or temporal” (2). Jacobs felt that her grandmother helped her so much through these times that she would never be able to repay the comfort she received from her grandmother and all the good deeds she did for her.
Harriet Jacobs experienced firsthand how slavery within the white household degrades the virtue and motherly instinct of white women. Throughout the 18th century, Jacobs is passed from owner to owner relearning their rules and regulations of the house. Jacobs knew nothing different, but noticed how her owners would slowly change and their caring humanitarian actions would start to diminish. Jacobs was not the only one who noticed her owners changing, the whole world began to take note of the dwindling virtue in all women. Harriet Jacobs experienced firsthand how slavery within the white household degrades the virtue white women by ridding them of compassion and altering their perception of what is right and wrong.
At the age of six, her mother died and she was forced to live with Margaret Horniblow, the mother’s owner. The mistress took a good care of Jacobs and taught her how to read, write and sew. Her father was always telling her to feel free and do not feel someones property. While her grandmother was always teaching Jacobs respect and manners. She was always telling her about principles and ethnics.
Jacob had a good relationship with her mother’s mistress after her mother died. Her mother worked under her mistress for many years, her mother was able to gain some respect from her mistress. When she died, the mistress seemed to take Jacobs under her wing to take care of her. The mistress taught Jacobs how to read, this also ignited a desire for freedom. (Jacobs,
In their respective narratives, both Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs expose slavery as a brutal and degrading institution. Though the tone and approach they incorporate in their individual narratives differ, both seek to renounce the romanticized view of plantation culture and reveal the harsh actualities. Jacobs also seeks to debunk the stereotypical notion that house slaves lived a more privileged life than plantation slaves. Furthermore, Jacobs goes on to explain the role of the slave-mistress and how that complicates the life of a slave girl growing up in a house with a licentious master and his jealous wife.
The first half of the book seems to send a strong message to the reader. The section asks why those who understand slavery and its implication fail to act on it. Jacobs seems to partly accuse those who inwardly condemn slavery but outwardly fail to act on the same for the situation in American during the time of the narrative’s authorship. The second part of the book tends to move away from these accusations and focuses on the lost trust among people especially among female slaves. Having being let down time and again by those they trusted, female slaves tended to shun any help.
Similarly, Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Seen Years Concealed” follows the early childhood of a young girl born into slavery. The first few chapters lay out the foundation of the book, particularly highlighting stories of her parents, first mistress, and the new family whom she later served. When reading these wonderful