What Are The Troubling Aspects Of Being A Slave

During Nat Turner 's Rebellion in the South, the white population began to be overcome by fear and paranoia, eventually leading to “musters,” or searches, of the homes of the colored population led by soldiers and the lower white class. During this time, slaves were beaten, robbed, and jailed to try and get information from them while soldiers searched through their home and stole their possessions. Despite these events occurring around her, Jacobs was confident that her grandmother 's house would be safe as they were “in the midst of white families who would protect [them]” (Jacobs 56). These patrols continued on for weeks until capture of Nat Turner. Though things did not go back to normal for the slaves ' as their church was demolished, …show more content…
Mothers by nature, wish for their child to live in a safe environment and wish to keep them from harm; and knowing the endeavors that slaves must face, it must be heartbreaking for a mother to determine whether or not they want their child to endure those hardships or die young to protect them from it. Jacobs herself, suffered through this ordeal: she would pray for her children to live, but all the while was not entirely happy when they survived. “Alas, what mockery it is for a slave mother to try to pray back her dying child to life! Death is better than slavery” (Jacobs 54). Another troubling aspect was the fact that “the child shall follow the condition of the mother,” not of the father” (Jacobs 66). Fathers, too, hold much love for their children and the fact that one could not purchase their own children, must be devastating.Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was quite an interesting read. The author was very informative regarding the events she encountered and really makes the reader stop to remember how different the world was at the time and how far our country has come. There were times, while reading, where I was very moved regarding her family and maternal values. While I did enjoy the story, I must admit there were moments where her writing left me confused. I found that there were times when she failed us clarify who she was talking and failed to name a few characters before talking about them. One example would be regarding her daughter. She had not revealed her daughter’s name to be Ellen until a few pages after her birth, leading me to question, “Who is Ellen?” Another example was when she first began talking about a “white unmarried gentleman” (Jacobs 48) and then proceeded to talk about Dr Flint. After a few paragraphs, she mentions her “friend, Mr Sands” (Jacobs 49) which again caused me to question who the