In her first sentence of her very powerful story, Linda Brent writes: "I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away." What did she mean by this statement, and explain how this could possibly be true for anyone born into the world of slavery?
Slavery was a most despicable institution in the United States and as everyone seemed to accept it until it boiled down to a Civil War, the Deep South lorded it over millions of black Africans who suffered greatly and terribly due to their exposure to slavery. In this book, Linda Brent recounts the life of Harriet Jacobs, a young woman slave who has an extremely powerful narrative to share and she begins with the discovery that she was a slave at six years of age. This was due to the fact that young children were not inherently exposed to slave life at so early an age so they were not so affected by the institution. But that immediately dawned upon them when they were more than six years old as then they suffered all the horrors and injustices of a slave life with all its trials and tribulations. Jacobs’ childhood was a happy one as her household was inherently a kind one but as she was then sold and her master was unkind and quite a despot who worked his slaves to death. She then suffered unduly and was consistently abused and tortured and even made to work in the fields from dawn to dusk without any form of respite. This situation continued to prevail so her years of childhood appeared nothing less than a distant memory.
Consider Linda's brother, the young and bright William. What was his perspective on slavery and what arguments or ideas did he share with Linda about one's identity as "slave" and the unfairness that came with such a status?
William was a bright young man who took to his life as a slave with rebellion and he also fumed at the inherent injustice caused by the institution itself. He held continual discussions with Harriet about their situation and urged her not to be so submissive and to be more assertive in her situation. He was angry at the fact that slaves did not have their own identity and were treated as little less than animals. He was also a bright and intelligent person who did not agree that every slave should do manual labour and wanted to learn and broaden his horizons. This was obviously not possible especially with his hard taskmaster and he received regular whippings and beatings for his pains.
Obviously the issue which irked William most was that he could not move about as he pleased and he could not learn anything and all his education had to be done in hiding. This created an impasse for him in the sense that he wanted to be a better person but the rigours and horrors of slavery kept him from being so. He could not take this terrible injustice and consequently became a silent and morose man
The contrast with Harriet was obviously great as Harriet was a submissive personality and would not really rebel against injustice. She was always worried for her brother who obviously faced considerable problems in his attitude and who had to face the lash a considerable number of times. Slaves did not have any form of independence, they were shackled to their chains and could not do otherwise but exist.
Can a slave fall in love? Justify your response please based on the Brent narrative.
Slaves were human beings like everybody else and thus had every right to fall in love accordingly. Yet the way that their life was led obviously made it quite difficult for them to fall in love and to have a normal family. The main issue was the fact that slaves were sometimes sold at auctions after their owners decided to sell them or were deceased and this broke up families on a regular basis. So love could not be an issue when slaves were simply treated as chattel and property which could be disposed of at any whim. Jacobs cites several instances in the book where slaves are sold and mothers and fathers end up with different owners with the resultant situation that families are broken up and love is rent apart or torn asunder.
Jacobs explains that love between slaves was a regular occurrence although this was obviously fraught with risks and danger. There were several instances where slaves risked life and limb to go over from one plantation to another to visit their loved ones and this obviously created huge problems if these were discovered. Naturally enough there were instances where slaves were caught and the punishment meted out to them was rather terrible with floggings and whippings ending up with some slaves even dying of their wounds. Love was certainly a long way away in the life of a slave and nothing much could change in this respect.
"Where there is a will, there is a way," as the saying goes. One of Linda's family members, much like many of the slaves in colonial America, seemed determined to have freedom even if it meant risking his life. Who was he and what risks did he take?
Linda’s brother William was the one who wanted to free himself from the shackles of slavery and he wanted to do this at any cost. He was constantly planning on how to run away and he took incredible risks to do so especially when the situation warranted itself.
However it was an extremely risky strategy and the obvious consequences were more than great if he was found out. However slaves much preferred their liberty and freedom even if it meant risking their life in various situations but this was not a deterrent for achieving the same liberty. Life was also fraught with difficulties and problems throughout and William had to work quite hard to demonstrate that he was not going to run away. The law in the deep South was that runaway slaves were treated worse than animals as they were deemed to have been escaped property so the owner could go to any lengths to recover his property.
More often than not, this resulted in terrible beatings and violence when the slave was recaptured and in some extreme cases, death was also a result. These were just some of the risks which William took when trying to escape.
Early on in the Brent narrative, we are introduced to Linda's loving grandmother who is not only the family matriarch and elder, but one who threatens one white slave master with the notion of putting herself up at the local slave auction, something which troubled and frightened him. How on earth could her idea be lodged as a serious threat for her slave master or owner? Explain and Discuss.
Matriarchs were important to slave owners as they created a sense of balance in the community and provided a sense of calm in assuaging slaves from rebelling. Slaves were also important sources of property for their masters and they had a lot of value with the matriarch perhaps one of the most valued. The fact that the grandmother wanted to put herself up for auction indicated that she was ready to risk the master’s wrath by doing so as she would obviously be coveted by other slave owners. In that manner she also was detrimental to her master because she showed him that she was superior to him in the sense that she could command a certain authority over him although he was her master and technically her superior.
The slave auction was also an important part of the psychology of ownership and this threat made by the matriarch was indicative of the power which slaves could have over their masters. The fact that the matriarch herself wanted to offer herself up for auction was also indicative of her low esteem for her master which obviously manifested herself in her request.
The master was also frightened by this change as it showed that he was powerless in front of his slaves and reduced their esteem towards him.
Works Cited:
Analysis of Major Characters for Incidents in the life of a slave girlhttp://www.sparknotes.com/lit/incidents/canalysis.html
Characters http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/incidents/characters.html
Yellin, Jean Fagan. Harriet Jacobs: A Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basic Civitas Books, 2004: 126. ISBN 0465092888
Baker, Thomas N. Nathaniel Parker Willis and the Trials of Literary Fame. New York, Oxford University Press, 2001: 4. ISBN 0-19-512073-6
Yellin, Jean Fagan. Harriet Jacobs: A Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basic Civitas Books, 2004:
