Summary and review of Harriet Jacob’s autobiographical narrative, `Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl`.
This paper describes the life story of a slave girl, as told in Harriet Jacob’s autobiographical narrative. The paper looks at how Jacob’s book touches upon the female experience of slavery, an aspect often missing from other slave narratives, and the way blacks had to contend with the scourge of racial inequality, even in the free states and after the Emancipation Proclamation.
`Harriet Jacob’s autobiographical narrative, published as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is a poignant account of one woman’s experiences living in bondage. Linda Brent (Jacob’s pseudonym) was born as a household slave to a relatively kind mistress who taught her how to read and write by the time she was twelve. When her mistress died, however, she did not grant Linda her freedom: As a result, Linda was sent to Dr. Flint’s home, where she suffered the immeasurable brutality described in the bulk of the book. Written to alert a mostly Northern audience to the plight of slaves, the narrative effectively illustrates the horrors not only of slavery as an evil institution but also of the traumas endured on a daily basis by enslaved men and women. Moreover, what makes Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl so unique and historically significant is that it offers special insight into the experiences of female slaves, who encounter such gender-based traumas as sexual assault and the pain of being separated from their children. Jacobs peppers her account with details but changes person and place names to protect them and herself, for she eventually escaped and fled to the North.`