Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Analysis.
Slavery thrived in America, especially the south in the 19th Century. The slaves were highly demonized based on their skin color, as well as discrimination based on their gender, and they were denied their rights as people. The slave masters refused to acknowledge that these were people. Slaves were treated as property. However, the female slave faced harsher conditions compared to her male counterpart, as manuscripts detailing the slavery experiences in the antebellum south suggest. This essay seeks to elaborate how Harriet Jacobs focuses on her experiences as a female slave, rather than a slave who happens to be a slave and points out difficult the situation was for the female slaves compared …show more content…
Once Brent (Harriet) approaches adulthood, Dr. Flint starts assaulting her sexually. He starts building a secret house as he intends to have sex with her (Jacobs 59). This forced sexual relationships were only a characteristic of the female slaves alone. This sexual harassment forces Brent to start a sexual relationship with Mr. Sands (Tredwell Sawyer), in order to anger her boss so that he could sell her off to another plantation, but the master is interested injuring her psychologically hence retains her with the constant sexual harassment. It was her belief that “nothing would enrage Dr. Flint so much than to know that I favored another man” which would make him sell her (Jacobs 59). This incidence of Harriet having an affair with Sands shows the extent to which females were pushed by circumstances to indulge in sexual encounters in order to ward off harassment by their masters, something which was a characteristic suffering of females alone. When Brent gives birth to her second child, a girl with Sawyer, she becomes even more saddened than before. Her words are a testimony that female slaves underwent many tribulations compared to male slaves. This is because “slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women” (Jacobs …show more content…
Flint whispered vulgar words to Brent on her fifteenth birthday, which robbed her of her purity. He would tell her that she was his property and bound to obey all his orders on any matter, including sexual acts (Jacobs 14). Despite being a juvenile, she had to endure the constant sexual assault from her master, something which the male slave did not have to go through. The mistress then gets wind of this affair and starts pressing Brent for the truth. She was now placed in a situation where she feared the sexual assault from the master as well as the constant fear of vengeful acts from the jealous mistress (Jacobs 61). These were some of the harsh conditions the slave women had to endure, which the male slaves did not go
Slavery thrived in America, especially the south in the 19th Century. The slaves were highly demonized based on their skin color, as well as discrimination based on their gender, and they were denied their rights as people. The slave masters refused to acknowledge that these were people. Slaves were treated as property. However, the female slave faced harsher conditions compared to her male counterpart, as manuscripts detailing the slavery experiences in the antebellum south suggest. This essay seeks to elaborate how Harriet Jacobs focuses on her experiences as a female slave, rather than a slave who happens to be a slave and points out difficult the situation was for the female slaves compared …show more content…
Once Brent (Harriet) approaches adulthood, Dr. Flint starts assaulting her sexually. He starts building a secret house as he intends to have sex with her (Jacobs 59). This forced sexual relationships were only a characteristic of the female slaves alone. This sexual harassment forces Brent to start a sexual relationship with Mr. Sands (Tredwell Sawyer), in order to anger her boss so that he could sell her off to another plantation, but the master is interested injuring her psychologically hence retains her with the constant sexual harassment. It was her belief that “nothing would enrage Dr. Flint so much than to know that I favored another man” which would make him sell her (Jacobs 59). This incidence of Harriet having an affair with Sands shows the extent to which females were pushed by circumstances to indulge in sexual encounters in order to ward off harassment by their masters, something which was a characteristic suffering of females alone. When Brent gives birth to her second child, a girl with Sawyer, she becomes even more saddened than before. Her words are a testimony that female slaves underwent many tribulations compared to male slaves. This is because “slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women” (Jacobs …show more content…
Flint whispered vulgar words to Brent on her fifteenth birthday, which robbed her of her purity. He would tell her that she was his property and bound to obey all his orders on any matter, including sexual acts (Jacobs 14). Despite being a juvenile, she had to endure the constant sexual assault from her master, something which the male slave did not have to go through. The mistress then gets wind of this affair and starts pressing Brent for the truth. She was now placed in a situation where she feared the sexual assault from the master as well as the constant fear of vengeful acts from the jealous mistress (Jacobs 61). These were some of the harsh conditions the slave women had to endure, which the male slaves did not go