Incidents In A Slave Girl 'By Harriet Jacobs' Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

In the book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, who, for her safety, called herself Linda Brent in the book. Harriet begins by talking about her childhood. She doesn’t know she is a slave until after her mother dies at the age of six. Her earliest years were not very pleasant, but she is soon given to the daughter of Dr. Flint and his wife Mrs. Flint. Dr. Flint was wealthy and cruel, and Harriet and her brother William found only in the kindness of their elderly grandmother Aunt Marthy. This grandmother was highly favorited in the south where the story take place, and another elderly woman purchased her freedom for her when Harriet was still a kid. Harriet talks about the horrors of slavery, dwelling on the theme of mothers being divided from their children and any sense of individuality or humanity in a slave being routed out by avaricious slaveholders. Her uncle Benjamin refuses to stand for the cruel treatment he receives, and eventually runs away to the north. Harriet 's grandmother helps free

When her first child - Benjamin (Benny) is born, she curses the institution of slavery for making her wish that her own son would die instead of staying in the slavery. She discusses how hard it was to know he could be taken from her at any time. Harriet moves from these situations to a topic of the hypocrisy of Christian whites in the south, and how slaves pushed for access to read and write so they could get a grip of Christianity but were denied their wishes. Harriet worries about her child 's future, knowing that the Dr. might come after her son. When he learns she is pregnant again he is even more enraged and insane, insulting her and beating her. When Harriet 's second child is born and she learns it is a girl, she is melancholy, knowing her daughter 's inevitable