Thursday, February 16, 2006: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Written by Herself by Harriet Ann Jacobs

Reader: Neelam Damani

Background:

How much of the story is really Jacob’s if she communicates through the creation of an alter ego, Linda Brent?

Excerpt from Preface: READER, be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of my adventures may seem incredible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Slavery; on the contrary, my descriptions fall far short of the facts. I have concealed the names of places, and given persons fictitious names. I had no motive for secrecy on my own account, but I deemed it kind and considerate towards others to pursue this course.

Introduction by Editor Lydia Child: At her request, I have revised her manuscript; but such changes as I have made have been mainly for purposes of condensation and orderly arrangement. I have not added any thing to the incidents, or changed the import of her very pertinent remarks. With trifling exceptions, both the ideas and the language are her own.

Personal Remark: Then why is her language and writing style in her letter to Ednah Cheney so different than that in the novel?

Objective 2 & 3:

2) To study the movement of "Romanticism," the narrative genre of "romance," and the related styles of the "gothic" and "the sublime."

3) To use literature as a basis for discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture (New Historicism), such as equality; race, gender, class; modernization and tradition; the family; the individual and the community; nature; the writer's conflicted presence in an anti-intellectual society.

Summary: Though Jacobs presents the hardships she faced during her long years as a slave, she often narrates with a romantic view.  For a woman to wish for a free, happy and independent life was romantic for her time. Also, rather than directing all her focus on the antagonist, she focus on the protagonist who “is enmeshed in family relationships,” and wants freedom not just for herself but for her children as well.

I think Jacobs also romanticizes because she knows who her audience is – “women of the North” whom she hopes to involve in political action. She chooses her audience carefully and thus addresses those who have also been subjugated at some level and can understand how she feels. Below is an excerpt from the Preface:

I do earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South, still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse. I want to add my testimony to that of abler pens to convince the people of the Free States what Slavery really is. Only by experience can any one realize how deep, and dark, and foul is that pit of abominations.

In her novel, she does paint a true picture of slavery. Not only does she illustrate the effects slavery has on Blacks, but also on White southern women, and how slavery destroys their lives. Though she is addressing women, she makes a brave move of talking about delicate subjects such as sexual harassment and interracial sexual relationships. She says in her introduction that she is taking the “responsibility of presenting them [horrors of slavery] with the veil withdrawn.” Her language is vague when she writes about the details of her sexual harassment, but she does not hold back about how if affects her soul. This, in my opinion, is ultimately the goal of representative literature – not just to prents fact, but bring to the story a human element, with which others can relate.

Interactive Exercise:

I think Jacobs so accurately discusses the problems faced by all slaves of her time. Among these are equality; race, gender, class; modernization and tradition; the family; the individual and the community; nature; the writer's conflicted presence in an anti-intellectual society. For each of the quotations below, which problem or problems do you think she is brining to view?

CHOICES:

QUOTES:

P. 2032 – “For, according to Southern laws, a slave, being property, can hold no property.”

p. 2032 – “My mistress was so kind to me that I was always glad to do her bidding, and proud to labor for her as much as my young years would permit … Those were happy days – too happy to last.”

p. 2035 – “I could not blame her. Slaveholder’s wives feel as other women would under similar circumstances.”

p. 2039 – “I know I did wrong. No one can feel it more sensibly than I do… Still, in looking back, calmly, on the events of my life, I feel that the slave woman ought not to be judged by the same standard as others.”

p. 2045 – “Truly, the colored race are the most cheerful and forgiving people on the face of the earth. That their masters sleep in safety is owing to their superabundance of heart; and yet they look upon their sufferings with less pity than they would bestow on those of a horse or a dog.”

p. 2046 – Allocation of food.

p. 2047 – “ I never had my heel-strings cut to prevent my running away; I was never chained to a log and forced to drag it about… I was never branded with hot iron, or torn by bloodhounds. On the contrary, I had always been kindly treated, and tenderly cared for…”

p.2047 – “I stuffed for air even more than for light. But I was not comfortless. I hear the voices of my children.” P. 2048 – “The heat of my den was intense, for nothing but thin shingles protected me from the scorching summer’s sun. But I had my consolations. Through my peeping-hole I could watch the children…”

p. 2053 – “The more my mind had become enlightened, the more difficult it was for me to consider myself an article of property… So, I was sold at last! A human being sold in the free city of New York!”

p. 2054 – “… for with those gloomy recollections come tender memories of my good old grandmother, like light, fleecy clouds floating over a dark and troubled sea.”

Last Question: Towards the end of the narrative, Jacobs writes: “Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage.” What do you think she means by this? How is her life similar to or different than her white female audience?