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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Decent Essays

In the book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author Harriet Jacobs (also the main character in book), paints a very powerful, and emotion picture of what the institution of Slavery was like for the slave and master in America, and the toll that it took on the human soul. Before reading this book, I was given a list of questions to ponder on while reading. These questions ranged from, compare and contrast survival techniques used by two characters in the book, to was this work difficult to read and understand? After reading the book, I feel that I have a good grasp on the answer to the different questions, and will answer them now. The two characters that I will compare and contrast their survival techniques are Harriet …show more content…

If I went out for a breath of fresh air, after a day of unwearied toil, his footsteps dogged me. If I knelt by my mother’s grave, his dark shadow fell on me even there (p. 27). These unwanted advances took a toll on the minds of female slaves. No matter what they did, they could never get away from their master. It had to be a very terrible experience that only female slaves had to deal with. Also, if the female slaves in the book had any children, they had to worry about the master selling their children anytime they wanted to because the children belong to the masters and not the slave parents. I am not saying that male slaves did not care about their children, but women carry their children in their stomachs for nine months, and will always have a greater connection with their children than their father. While reading this book, my heart want out to the female slaves that had to adore such hardships in there life. I could not and will never understand completely what it would be like to have my body taken anytime and my children snatched away from me whenever the master wanted too. It was hard for slaves to make their life meaningful under such harsh conditions, but they did. Many slaves including Linda’s grandmother kept her sprites high by keeping her faith in God. Linda

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