Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

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Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl

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....

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