African Family Break Up Paper
Caitlin Reilly African American Literature
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all involved in the subject of slavery was the disastrous break-up of families that so often occurred within the dynamic. It had been seen a number of times, as slaves were considered property and therefore did not have a right to remain with one another of their own personal accords unless they had achieved freedom. This atrocity brought about a heinous percentage of families that were shattered in order to be torn apart and to work for separate masters or, even, left by the free will of a slave in order to gain their own freedom.
Harriet Jacobs was one such person, who sought after freedom so deeply that she found herself torn between the duty to her own children and the necessity for a personal sense of liberty. Under the pseudonym of Linda, she writes an autobiography of herself and her hardships during her time of slavery. It is during this time that she has two children by Mr. Sands, a white neighbor who she agrees to an affair to, though she longs for nothing more than to go north. This dream is turned into nothing but a fantastical belief when she comes upon the realization that she cannot escape with two small children, and instead chooses an alternative for herself.
It is at this point that the struggle between Linda’s sense of self and Linda’s sense of family can be so clearly seen. She hides out in the attic of Aunt Martha, the grandmother she loves so terribly dear, and instead chooses to watch her children grow within the shadows of obscurity, like some ethereal sort of specter carefully surveying them dutifully. She decides upon this when Aunt Martha coerces her that it would be a repulsive and shameful decision to leave behind two little ones, and so Linda decides to refuse to succumb to the cruelties of her masters and, yet, also remain bound by the threads of life she, herself, has created. Linda’s feeling of obligation is not yet enforced until Aunt Martha
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all involved in the subject of slavery was the disastrous break-up of families that so often occurred within the dynamic. It had been seen a number of times, as slaves were considered property and therefore did not have a right to remain with one another of their own personal accords unless they had achieved freedom. This atrocity brought about a heinous percentage of families that were shattered in order to be torn apart and to work for separate masters or, even, left by the free will of a slave in order to gain their own freedom.
Harriet Jacobs was one such person, who sought after freedom so deeply that she found herself torn between the duty to her own children and the necessity for a personal sense of liberty. Under the pseudonym of Linda, she writes an autobiography of herself and her hardships during her time of slavery. It is during this time that she has two children by Mr. Sands, a white neighbor who she agrees to an affair to, though she longs for nothing more than to go north. This dream is turned into nothing but a fantastical belief when she comes upon the realization that she cannot escape with two small children, and instead chooses an alternative for herself.
It is at this point that the struggle between Linda’s sense of self and Linda’s sense of family can be so clearly seen. She hides out in the attic of Aunt Martha, the grandmother she loves so terribly dear, and instead chooses to watch her children grow within the shadows of obscurity, like some ethereal sort of specter carefully surveying them dutifully. She decides upon this when Aunt Martha coerces her that it would be a repulsive and shameful decision to leave behind two little ones, and so Linda decides to refuse to succumb to the cruelties of her masters and, yet, also remain bound by the threads of life she, herself, has created. Linda’s feeling of obligation is not yet enforced until Aunt Martha
Bibliography: Incidents in the life of a slave girl : written by herself Author: Harriet A Jacobs The Mayor of Casterbridge Author: Thomas Hardy Thirty Years a Slave Author: Elizabeth Keckley