Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

             In Harriet Jacobs' autobiographical narrative, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Linda Brent's moral decision to gain freedom for her and her family was an ethical decision that leads to a positive outcome of freedom. It is in this more than anything that Brent suggests the life story of a free woman differs from that of a slave. "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women...o the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortification's peculiarly their own". Not only is it difficult being a slave, but being a woman slave is great hardship in this time period. With that being said, Linda's decision to resist Dr. Flint's power fueled her quest to become a free woman had a positive outlook.
             Dr. Flint had the legal right to do anything he wanted to Linda, but wished to seduce her by tricking and threatening her rather than raping her. Throughout the book, Linda constantly rebels against him and refuses to do anything sexual with him. This enrages him and he soon obsesses over the idea of breaking her rebellious spirit. Dr. Flint wanted to isolate her into the one house where his new plantation would sit. When Linda finds out about this she tells him that this is not what she wants but he does not really care and does it anyways. As slave owner he had full control over Linda in all ways but on the contrary side he never did hurt her physically because of his infatuation or love for her. With all of the chances he had to end her life he would walk away. I think that Dr. Flint was aware that he had this obsession with her which made him even more enraged towards her because he knew no matter how much he broke her down mentally he did not want to harm her physically or kill her. This attachment to a slave is not usual among slave books but in Linda Brent's case it was different which was what made her struggle to fight for the freedom of her chi...

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 16:04, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/204600.html