The volatile institution of slavery saw the systematic oppression of those with melanin in their skin. This system raped those of a darker hue of their culture, history, and ultimately their humanity. The victims of this legal institution were viewed no more than chattel; a piece of property in which authoratative ownership was held by someone of European descent. Although this is how the system of slavery is generally percieved, one must take into account that within the system of slavery, slave treatment varied greatly from plantation to plantation, and from slave to slave. And though an inferiortiy complex to whites—exclding white trash—manifested itself in many slaves, not all were submissive to the will of the legal institution of …show more content…
This is particularly true for the slave narrative titled, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, written under the alias of Linda Brent, which will be used hereon. Solely using this narrative as a gateway to a past society, the intent of this paper is took look at the Master-Slave relationship as the overarching theme, but more specifically we will look to analyze the fatal attraction of Master to Slave Girl. To do so we will first look at the nature of the relationship between Linda Brent and her master in its earliest form; secondly, we will investigate the theme of “Love” in a slave society—can it be attained?; Third, we will analyze the means of defiance taken by Brent to avoid her masters advances; finally, this paper will conclude by explaining that this was a relationship of obsession and defiance til the very …show more content…
When using the word “obsessive” there should be no commection made to the idea of “love.” In this slave society was unattainable, especially for our slave girl. Brent, in the chapter Love, begins her tale with the question “why does the slave ever love?” She recalls her first love being born a freeman(446). She asserts that her love for him was true, having loved him with all the “ador of a young girl 's first love(446). However, upon the reflection of her situation of servitude she knew that a union between the two could never happen, because she belonged to Mr. Flint—literally. Brent describes this love-dream having been her support through many trials, and was dreadfully fearful that this pleasure of her own making would fade. And just as any pleasure of a slave faded, so did this love. Having learned of Linda 's desire to be wedded to this free negro, Dr. Flint stomped out the flames of Love and Hope. If she were to marry, she “must take up with one of (his) slaves(448).” This was the stern reply Linda recieved from her master, whose obsessive nature would not let him do without her. When the subject of “love” is explicitly brough up through an honest answer of Linda 's, Dr. Flint unable to control his outrage at the truth exclaims, “how dare you tell me so,” as if his own heart was bleeding(448). With tiger like power, he sprung upon Linda, striking her like an abusive spouse, claiming she was the one who drove him to such an action. Following the lethal blow came
Many colored individuals were forced into slavery and each and everyone of the slaves had a different experience with their master. The slaves were treated as if they were nothing, a piece of property that the white people owned. They were not allowed to learn how to read or write; only needed to know how to do their chores and understand what their master was saying. They were just an extra hand in the house that had no say or existed in the white people world. The slaves’ job was to obey their master or mistress at all times, do their chores and take the beating if given one.
In this state, I was constantly grieving ... and wishing for death rather than anything else" (525). Equiano explains the horrible living and working conditions that the slaves have to go through every day of their lives. The slaves were considered to be the outsiders of society from the superior and dominate race, also known as, the white man. Equiano then goes on to say that “It is not enough that we are torn from our country and friends, to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Must every tender feeling be
" The author tells how sad is the life of a slave girl and how, as soon as she is old enough, and against her will, she would learn about the malice of the world. Meanwhile, male slaves rarely suffered from such abuse, and different from women, slavery mostly affected their manliness. As Douglas says while describing one of the oversees: "It was enough to chill the blood and stiffen the hair of an ordinary man to hear him talk. " By saying so, he proved how, at a very patriarchal time, male slaves completely lost the bravery and "superiority" often used to describe white men.
The Atlantic Slave Trade is remembered as a dark and cruel point in history, in which African Americans were treated as animals by inhuman and cruel men. During this time period the ideal shared by many white men was that of white supremacy, meaning that people with white skin are naturally better than those with dark skin. They also believed that it was their worldly duty to care for people with black skin. However, the majority of these men did not care for those they viewed as their subordinates. These cruel men viewed the black race as inhuman, however, it was those who had white skin that were the real inhumans, they were beasts.
This juxtaposition is also serving the purpose to convey one of Douglass’ messages: the pervasive impacts of slavery. While Douglass appreciates the fact Mistress treats Douglass “as she supposed one human treat another” (¶ 2), he alludes to the Bible once again, to speak of the Golden Rule: treat others the way you would like to be treated. This allusion allows the audience to get only a gist of how even Christianity could not stop the horrors of
The sentence, “I wanted to keep myself pure; and, under the most adverse circumstances, I tried hard to preserve my self-respect; but I was struggling alone in the powerful grasp of the demon Slavery; and the monster proved too strong for me,” exonerates Jacobs while pinning the crime on the corrupt social institution, slavery (48). To further this point, Jacobs employs the rhetorical device of personification to describe slavery in terms of human attributes. In effect, Jacobs transforms the ideology that is slavery into a material object upon which the reader can place blame. Each carefully chosen word works toward Jacobs’ ultimate goal of revealing the underbelly of benign paternalism, the backbone of Southern
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass presents an insight into the power differences between a slave and his master. In this account , Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave but also the owner. The “poison of irresponsible power” that masters hold has a damaging effect on their morals and beliefs (Douglas 39). This immense control in the hands of a person will break their kind heart and finest feelings turning them into those of a demon. Douglass uses flashbacks , deep characterization, and appeals to the emotions to address the negative effects of slavery.
As stated by Brent, “When I found that my master had actually begun to build the lonely cottage, other feelings mixed with those I have described” (Brent, A Perilous Passage in The Slave Girl’s Life). She was hinting at an occurrence between Dr. Flint and herself, where it seems that he was pressuring her into giving him her purity. It was hard for anyone to stay pure if they were always coerced or even forced to engage in any sexual
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an enticing tale of Douglas as he changes from slave to man. Near the beginning of the book, his first witness of a whipping reveals the entrance to the horrors that would come throughout his experience with enslavement. “No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim…” (4) it displays the physical, emotional, and spiritual breaking of an individual; powerful words to create an understanding of the terror of slavery. Beating into absolute submission strikes a sense of sadness, pity, justice in the reader that encourages them to see slavery in a different light. Throughout his narrative he continues to attack these points to encourage similar feelings of pity and acknowledgement “to enlighten white readers about both the realities of slavery as an institution and the humanity of black people as individuals deserving of full human rights.”.
By Douglass stating just how his mistress begun to take precautions of him being able to read, and how furious his mistress became, Douglass brings irony in his writing to convey to his audience that the same woman that provided for the unfortunate and aided the ones that needed it the most… is now restricting a slave from his freedom. Douglass transitions onto concluding the effects of slavery and how his mistress has been affected prior to and after the effects of slavery. He states “She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.” Douglass recognizes how his mistress altered with “experience” of becoming a slave owner and his greater purpose is to reveal how it had brainwashed his
During 1450-1750, a change in the foundation of the labor systems, which would be slavery, was never considered by the majority. This, in itself, was inherently inhumane, but those who practiced slavery didn’t take into account the changes in society that the predominance of slavery would bring. The subjugation of a specific set of people, based on race instead of war prisoners as before, impacted the white man 's perspective on equality between
Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness ” (52). In short, Douglass is acknowledging the effect resulting from having complete control over a human, which soon corrupted Mrs. Auld’s well-being state and transformed her completely. Another strategy that should be acknowledged is Frederick’s usage of allusions. In this particular example, he provides insight on his close companion and uses a biblical allusion. He shows gratitude by stating that “...my friend Mr. Nathan Johnson (of whom I can say with a grateful heart, ‘I was hungry, and he gave me meat; I was thirsty, and he gave me drink; I was a stranger,
One of the most difficult situations to face in life is a moral dilemma. This is exactly what was encountered by slaveholders and plain folk alike concerning the trial of Celia, a slave during the 1850s. The moral ambiguity of slavery is addressed in Celia, A Slave, especially as the sexual aspect of Celia’s case called people to contemplate whether it was moral to mistreat slaves. When Celia had been sexually abused and mistreated by her master, she lashed out and killed him. From the perspective of the 1850s, her master, Robert Newsom, had not committed a crime, whereas Celia had perpetrated a crime deserving of the death penalty.
Ans: Lord Baltimore warned Irish Nell about marrying Charles because marrying a slave in those days meant that she would enslave herself and her future generation. Lord Baltimore did not want her to seal her future like that so that he warned her about marrying
Throughout the narrative, the author includes his personal stories about experiencing the violence of slavery first-hand. For example, on page 20, he writes about the first time he witnessed a slave, his own aunt, getting the whip. “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest…I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition… It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery…” The author including his experience of his aunts whipping, in detail, appeals to the emotions of the reader.