Harriet Jacols Literary Analysis

Primary Document Analysis Marisol Cruz The author of this document is Harriet A. Jacobs (pen name “Linda Brent), who was born as a Chattel slave in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina of the United States. Linda was practically born into slavery because of the mother and father being slaves themselves. The white men rule and had the power to treat their slave however they wanted as long as they did what they were told to satisfy their needs. The abuse that the female slaves had to endure was physical, emotional and sexual.

When reading Harriet Jacobs/Linda Brent’s autobiography addressing her life as a slave who grew up in the deep south and who later fled to the North, two important characters make an impact on her life. Like many people, Jacobs/Brent’s life actions are heavily impacted by the people and the atmosphere around her, driving her decisions, wants, and desires. Although Jacob/Brent’s grandmother makes an impact on her life, Dr. Flint makes a greater impact on her life. With his pushing, he helps determine whom she has children with, controls her life through the livelihood of her children, and even impacts her life after he has passed away through his surviving daughter and son-in-law.

In Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs narrative they show how the institution of slavery dehumanizes an individual both physically and emotionally. In Jacobs narrative she talks about how women had it worse than men did in slavery. While men suffered, women had it worse due to sexual abuse. The emotional, physical, and sexual abuse was dehumanizing for anyone.

Later on as the years passed, Jacobs worked for “the family of Nathaniel Parker Willis, (1806-1867), one of the era’s most popular writers and editors” (Baym, 920). While working as a babysitter for the Willis’s family, she later gained her passion for writing. Harriet Jacobs was later purchased by her original owner by the Willis’s family so she can be her owner. There is where she gained her emancipation.

The autobiography "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself" written by Harriet A. Jacob and published in 1861, is a story following the life of Linda Brent, set in North Carolina. At age six, her parents and her mother's mistress died, and she was sold to a man named Dr.Flint, a cruel and abusive man. She tried to escape, but during this time, it was easier said than done. This book follows Linda Brent and her true stories during slavery, and readers can truly understand what life was like for female slaves. While following Linda through her experiences, the author can convey an array of emotions using ethos, juxtaposition, and syntax.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was written by Harriet Jacobs under the pseudonym Linda Brent. It was published in 1861, the year the civil war started. Its publication was an effort to let the American public know what the life of a slave was really like, as well as the pains and inhuman acts that they endured. In the book, Linda Brent (Harriet Jacobs) describes her life from childhood to adulthood, touching on all the horrors she constantly suffered, as well as most other slaves of that time. What makes Jacobs’ story different than other slave narratives like Frederick Douglass’ is that her novel doesn’t focus on a daring and adventurous escape but instead it focuses on a mother's love and her family.

In Harriet Jacobs’ book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs retells her story of slavery, as well as her suffering, and shows the virtues of true womanhood that not only she, but also many other slave women tried to upheld in order to prove that they were, in fact, humans, and women at that. However, this proved to be a difficult task, as Jacobs shows. For the life of Linda, her fate was set out for her the day she was born. Her parents, who were slaves, as well as her grandmother who was also a slave, yet a well-respected slave in the community set Linda up for a life of servitude herself. The young slave girl was forced to grow up too fast, realizing only at the age of 6 that she was a slave.

To slave a person is the most inhumane act one can commit, and unfortunately was very popular during the 18th century. However, have you ever wondered the different impacts slavery caused between men and women? Both Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs showcase, through their writings, the horrors of slavery, and contrast the many similarities and import differences between the experience of slavery between genders. One of the similarities of slavery for both genders was their allowances. Both men and women were only allowed a certain amount of food and clothing to survive throughout a year.

My father was a carpenter, and considered so intelligent and skilful in his trade, that, when buildings out of the common line were to be erected, he was sent for from long distances, to be head workman. On condition of paying his mistress two hundred dollars a year, and supporting himself, he was allowed to work at his trade, and manage his own affairs. His strongest wish was to purchase his children; but, though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded.” (page 820) Harriet Ann Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813. Jacobs grew up in a family where her father was able to keep her and her brother together without being separated.

The beginning of the 17th Century marked the practice of slavery which continued till next 250 years by the colonies and states in America. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco and cotton crops. Later , they were employed or ‘enslaved’ by the whites as for the job of care takers of their houses. The practice of slavery also led the beginning of racism among the people of America. The blacks were restricted for all the basic and legally privileged rights.

I admire how Harriet remained strong no matter how many times she felt his white distinctive breath blowing hard on her neck. The scent of sex and oppression was everywhere in Harriet’s household and it gives me a fearsome feeling. To have the white man who you just awfully hate always intrigued with you whispering sweet, but disgusting sexual things in your ear while still reminding you how you undeniably belong to him would be sickening for any young girl of color. It is so disgusting how our courts found the action of rapping a black girl a just law instead of unjust.

As her years of conducting the railroad culminates, Harriet starts her career of concocting superb speeches on top of her head. Not only was the audience moved, but they were also surprised of how inspiring her tone of voice is (207). In addition, as she tells her own synopses of her life, Harriet speaks her story with dramatic interpretation and excellent eloquence in a speech so well that the audience was thrilled upon scheduling another speech with Harriet. In one of her speeches, Harriet ferociously convinces a little boy to holler ‘Fire, fire’, which is a feat that only parents can normally do, let alone a stranger. (126) Also, Harriet persuaded, not always by cajoling, with a deep-tone husky voice and a gun in her hand, a despaired slave to continue on the journey instead of wavering on the decision to either turn back and risk punishment, or to go to freedom.

Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs are two well-known authors in American literature who have spoken out against slavery's atrocities and the fight for freedom. Both of them were subjected to slavery in the 19th century in the United States, and they utilized their literature to share their stories with other people. Despite the fact that they both experienced persecution in a similar way, their stories diverged significantly, especially when it came to gender. In order to determine if Jacobs and Douglass experienced and depicted the same kind of freedom, this essay will examine the various ways that gender influenced their experiences and writing styles. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs both went through the horrors of slavery, but due to their gender, their experiences were drastically different.

Harriet Jacobs and Sojourner Truth are women who face adversity categorized in an invisible sub-group, making it difficult for black women to compete in the world. This sub-group is known as intersectionality. Black women struggle with the perception being inferior placing them at the bottom of the social class. Jacobs and Truth, however, share their experiences to other men and women allowing them to be aware of this invisible group. They willingly chose to speak out against this discrimination.

Harriet Jacobs, referred to in the book as Linda Brent, was a strong, caring, Native American mother of two children Benny and Ellen. She wrote a book about her life as a slave and how she earned freedom for herself and her family. Throughout her book she also reveals countless examples of the limitations slavery can have on a mother. Her novel, also provides the readers a great amount of examples of how motherhood has been corrupted by slavery.