Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl
Linda Brent
CHAPTER I The conditions of this master-slave relationship are that the slave
(Linda) is there to do work for her mistress, or master, which is now her sister' s daughter. Linda is supposed to take care her new owner's five year old daughter, help plant things, take care of any animals and anything else she is told. As a slave, she should also do everything else she is told by her master.
"After a brief period of suspense, the will of my mistress was read, and we learned that she had bequeathed me to her sister's daughter, a child of five years old." I think that before her former master died and she was sent to her master's sister's daughter, the conditions were different. Linda's master taught her how to read and spell, which was a privilege, because most slaves were not taught how to do this. "While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory."
Chapter II The author's purpose for including this chapter is to show just how unfairly, and cruelly slaves (she) were treated. People saw the slaves as scapegoats and were blamed for everything. She gives many examples of situations in which someone (one of the masters or mistresses) wasn't happy with something and blamed it on the slave(s), forcing them to deal with the harsh consequences.
An example is when the cook sends dinner out to Dr. Flint. Sometimes, when he does not like a dish, the cook gets whipped, other times he shoves all the food down the her throat until she chokes. I feel that this is very offensive treatment because that is not a justified reason to do something, as severe as choking someone. Even though she was one of his slaves, instead of doing that, he could have just told her, or even yelled, to cook something different-she would have gotten the point. I guess Dr. Flint, just like many other whites, felt he had to use violence to punish her
Linda Brent
CHAPTER I The conditions of this master-slave relationship are that the slave
(Linda) is there to do work for her mistress, or master, which is now her sister' s daughter. Linda is supposed to take care her new owner's five year old daughter, help plant things, take care of any animals and anything else she is told. As a slave, she should also do everything else she is told by her master.
"After a brief period of suspense, the will of my mistress was read, and we learned that she had bequeathed me to her sister's daughter, a child of five years old." I think that before her former master died and she was sent to her master's sister's daughter, the conditions were different. Linda's master taught her how to read and spell, which was a privilege, because most slaves were not taught how to do this. "While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory."
Chapter II The author's purpose for including this chapter is to show just how unfairly, and cruelly slaves (she) were treated. People saw the slaves as scapegoats and were blamed for everything. She gives many examples of situations in which someone (one of the masters or mistresses) wasn't happy with something and blamed it on the slave(s), forcing them to deal with the harsh consequences.
An example is when the cook sends dinner out to Dr. Flint. Sometimes, when he does not like a dish, the cook gets whipped, other times he shoves all the food down the her throat until she chokes. I feel that this is very offensive treatment because that is not a justified reason to do something, as severe as choking someone. Even though she was one of his slaves, instead of doing that, he could have just told her, or even yelled, to cook something different-she would have gotten the point. I guess Dr. Flint, just like many other whites, felt he had to use violence to punish her