American Lit (Slave Girl)

From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl When reading the story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one would become very interested. The author Harriet Ann Jacobs begins the story with an introduction stating why she is writing this autobiography. She states that it is a hard, painful read and that she wanted to keep it private but she knew that people must know the truth. Her life story is agonizing but she was determined to put it out there for readers to read, hoping that by making it public it may help the antislavery movement. Harriet uses the penname Linda Brant to narrate the story in first person. Harriet writes about the struggles of being a female trapped into slavery and how she fought to protect not only herself but her young children too. She also highlights her darkest and happiest moments and how in instants she could have easily given up but chose not to. Harriet Ann Jacobs wrote this story to not only help the antislavery movement but to also educate people on how hard slavery was on a person, especially a woman. Linda argues that a powerless slave girl cannot be held to the same principles and ethics as a free woman. With that being said, some would believe this story was written to verify that and the hardships many women who were slaves faced on daily basis. The story begins with Linda being brought up in a happy home by her parents who are fairly well off slaves. At the age of six Linda’s mother passes away, sending her to live with her mother’s mistress who was very kind and taught her how to read and write. After a few short years, the mistress dies and bestows Linda to live with a relative. Her new masters are mean and careless. Dr. Flint the father begins to sexually harass Linda over the years. She becomes scared and begins to have a relationship with her white neighbor Mr. Sands. She later gives birth to their two children Benny and Ellen. She hopes that her master Dr. Flint will sell her too Mr. Sands, but instead he sends her