Free Essays on Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† is the story of a girl born into slavery who’s will and determination never waiver as she fights for her freedom and the freedom of her children. Harriet Jacobs’ story brings to life the reality of slavery; the cruelty, the sexual relationships between master and slave, the psychological abuse, the separation of slave families, the dangers of escape, and the kindness that can be found in the middle of it all. Harriet was fortunate to be born into a position in which she could live with her mother and father and in fact did not even know she was a slave until her mother died. At that time she was sent to live with her mother’s mistress. This was also a fortunate position as her mistress was kind and compassionate and vowed to care for her in thanks for the many loyal years of service her mother had provided. However, her luck would not last as her mistress died and left Harriet to her niece, a five year old girl. This is when Dr. Norcom, the father of her mistress, entered her life and changed it forever. At only 15 years old Dr. Norcom began pursuing and harassing Harriet sexually but her hatred for him and the moral upbringing provided by her grandmother made her continually refuse and evade him. Harriett met another white man who became her lover and had two children with him. Because of the laws of that time her two children immediately became the property of Dr. Norcom as she was. Their father tried to buy her and their children but Dr. Norcom refused. Because of this, Harriett feared for her children and seriously began planning an escape. She ran away and after being hidden a few places by friends of the family she finally was hidden in the tiny crawl space above her grandmother’s house. The space was barely large enough for her body and allowed only limited movement. The space had no insulation or ventilation and so provided unbearable conditions for Harriett... Free Essays on Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Free Essays on Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Harriet Jacobs’ memoir, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, shows us the life of a female slave and the abuse she suffered at the hands of her master. This was very different than the abuse we have witnessed from the other slaves we’ve read about. This book was very moving, because it was the real life account of a woman who was sexually abused. It was revolting to read as well, because she made herself believe that the abuse she was suffering was OK, because that was how she served her master. Jacobs uses rhetoric very well to make the reader sickened and saddened at the same time. Jacobs uses rhetoric to gain sympathy for abused, enslaved females in the south by giving accounts of her life in slavery to northern white women. Other authors of books in this time who were slaves probably used rhetoric to target men for the most part. In this era, men were the ones who made a difference in the country. They fought in the wars and were the leaders in a family. Jacobs’s use of rhetoric to affect women in such a personal way as the sexual abuse of a woman must have, and still does, strike a chord in our hearts. It is upsetting to think that she made herself believe that it was her job to have sex with her master. I’m sure this was hard for northern white women to understand and her use of rhetoric is ideal to help them get angry at the slavery system. I am sure many women read this book and knew exactly how she felt and wanted to do something about the what slavery was doing to these women.... Free Essays on Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Incidents Knowing that most Americans today will never truly know what slavery meant to those slaves who were held in captivation under it during the nation’s past, Harriet Jacobs still manages to paint a disturbing portrait in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl of how it changed her, effectively granting readers a better understanding of the institution. However, her narrative falls short in that she purely focuses on all the bad elements that had taken place in her life, thus reducing what genuinely seems to be an exemplary argument against slavery to - at times - no more than a plea for attention or an enticement for pity, despite her direct addresses to the contrary. Given, Jacobs was a slave, and she makes it expressly clear that it was not an enjoyable experience, but her work gives the impression that either she really had a terrible life, or she’s omitted nicer parts for the sake of shock value. Either way, her argument comes across, loud and clear. One of the more noticeable points of Jacobs’ writing is that she constantly addresses the reader, particularly people from the North and in several cases, women. This entreaty usually comes at the end of every other paragraph, and so the account is made to seem more like an address than a narrative. Dozens of phrases like â€Å"Oh, reader †¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"If you only knew †¦Ã¢â‚¬  are to be found in the text, and these almost make the story sound too melodramatic for it’s own good, if the goal of the author is to encourage the abolition of slavery. Where Jacobs fails to do much with her overly emphasized diction, however, she comes through with her accounts and stories about her and her life, which speak for themselves as ultimately championing freedom for all humanity. One particular section of the text is more disturbing than the rest though, not for depicting an incident of excessive cruelty, but because of it’s revelations about Jacobs. When the author writes â€Å"Ta... Free Essays on Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Ashley Hand Slavery: The Moral Corruption of Family â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† is a narrative that describes a young girl’s trials and tribulations while being an involuntary member of the institution of slavery. Jacobs, like every other victim of the atrocity known as slavery, wishes that people in the north would do more to put a stop to this harmful practice. Slavery is an understood dishonor of the past. This is true, not only because of the injustices done to the slaves, but for the negative effects that the slave holders and their wives underwent. When there are basic rights of freedom being denied in a society, no ethical principles can be upheld. The fact that this sinful treatment of other human beings was permitted had a morally crippling effect not only on the principle victim, the slave, but on the entire household in which the slave resided. Slavery corrupted the morals of everyone within its reach. First and foremost, we must recognize that the primary and most directly affected victim due to slavery, is of course, the slave. Ranging from lashings, emotional struggles, and even death, slaves have felt the truest and most severe form of slavery. They are not allowed to own property because â€Å"according to Southern laws, a slave, being property, can hold no property†(6). Harriet Jacobs describes many of her misfortunes and happenings while under the thumb and close watch of Dr. Flint. She was degraded and insulted many times throughout her stay with him. For example, Jacobs recalls â€Å"When he told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in every thing; that I was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his, never before had my puny arm felt half so strong†(18). This was only the beginning however, and pretty soon thereafter sexual advances were made by Dr. Flint in which he â€Å"peopled my young mind with unclean image s, such as only a vile monster could ... Free Essays on Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† is the story of a girl born into slavery who’s will and determination never waiver as she fights for her freedom and the freedom of her children. Harriet Jacobs’ story brings to life the reality of slavery; the cruelty, the sexual relationships between master and slave, the psychological abuse, the separation of slave families, the dangers of escape, and the kindness that can be found in the middle of it all. Harriet was fortunate to be born into a position in which she could live with her mother and father and in fact did not even know she was a slave until her mother died. At that time she was sent to live with her mother’s mistress. This was also a fortunate position as her mistress was kind and compassionate and vowed to care for her in thanks for the many loyal years of service her mother had provided. However, her luck would not last as her mistress died and left Harriet to her niece, a five year old girl. This is when Dr. Norcom, the father of her mistress, entered her life and changed it forever. At only 15 years old Dr. Norcom began pursuing and harassing Harriet sexually but her hatred for him and the moral upbringing provided by her grandmother made her continually refuse and evade him. Harriett met another white man who became her lover and had two children with him. Because of the laws of that time her two children immediately became the property of Dr. Norcom as she was. Their father tried to buy her and their children but Dr. Norcom refused. Because of this, Harriett feared for her children and seriously began planning an escape. She ran away and after being hidden a few places by friends of the family she finally was hidden in the tiny crawl space above her grandmother’s house. The space was barely large enough for her body and allowed only limited movement. The space had no insulation or ventilation and so provided unbearable conditions for Harriett...