Incident In The Life Of A Slave Girl Summary

We are often presented with a fragmented account of slavery. We know when, how and why slavery started and ended. But what we often fail to understand, unintentionally or not, is what happened in between. We fail to grasp the magnitude and nature of slavery. We fail to internalize that slaves weren’t just slaves, but they were people who suffered unimaginable injustices. The book Incident in the life of a Slave girl opens a small window through which we can see the experience of just one of millions of enslaved people. I will examine the suffering of a mother, Mr. Flint’s abuse towards Linda, the murder of a young slave, and Linda’s relationship with Mr. Sands and how these events relate to slavery as whole.

In chapter 3, Linda talks about

It is predictable that a story like this would be dissected. People have a hard time believing crude realities, they prefer to hide behind false truths. I believed the account in this book are true, not only because of Harriet Jacobs’ credibility, but also the documents offered in the book. The deathbed codicil of Margaret Horniblow willing Harriet to Mary Matilda Norcom, daughter of Dr.Norcom, page 299, confirms that Harriet Jacobs was under the power of the Norcom family. Harriet’s accounts are confirmed by the documents. The floor plan of Horniblow’s house shows Harriet’s hiding place. I did not feel the story was exaggerated or fake in any way, but who are we to judge the veracity or authenticity of the book? Harriet Jacobs was able to do something that millions of slaves didn’t have the privilege to do: she told her story. She opened the door to a new, more challenging conversation about slavery. Exaggerated or not, the events in this book are documented to not only be true about Harriet, but to countless slaves that suffered similar injustices. The author and contributors went to great lengths to verify the facts in the 2009 edition of “Incidents in the life of a slave