Artifact 5: Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"

Classmates,

Harriet Ann Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is both a very moving and inspiring piece of literature. There were many hardships that Harriet’s character, Linda Brent whose life paralleled that of the author herself, faced but in the end, she came out a stronger person.

In all of Jacob’s character’s experiences, there was a difference in the way she perceived her bondage in society. This difference was a testament to her commitment to true freedom. Brent was subjected to hardships right from her childhood to later in her life. There were many hard decisions she had to make and compromises she had to live with, only because society’s laws had brought her to this point in her life. The sexual harassment she underwent in her adolescent years, followed by the constant devil on her shoulder of mothering the children of a man in the quest for both vengeance and freedom are classic examples of the desperate measures anyone would be pushed to take in the darkness of slavery.

After having taken what can only disrespectfully be called refuge in her grandmother shed, with a lack of basic amenities and only the voices and sight of her children to keep her going, there is no doubt that Brent had a very strong demeanor and an unstoppable desire to be free. Even after moving North with her children and only having a change of her masters from vicious to benevolent, Brent was not satisfied. “I am deeply grateful to the generous friend who procured it [freedom], but I despise the miscreant who demanded payment for what never rightfully belonged to him or his.” (859) This was the main thrust of Jacob’s view of slavery which she herself tried to spread the word of to her people – that her freedom was her birth-right and not something that can be traded.

In the end, it is this freedom that Jacob herself came to value more than anything. Can anyone who has not known what it means to be a slave really appreciate freedom? If that be the case, do we all need, at some point in our lives, to live in a state of a lack of freedom to realize what its true worth is and how important it is to fight for?

Regards,

Arjun Thakur

ENGL 214