Summary Of Narrative Of The Life Of A Slave Girl, By Harriet Jacobs

In history of the United States it is no secret that the country had gone through a period of time when slavery was a common practice among many of the large plantation owners in the southern states. This time period is taught through out schools around the world,, but despite without going through what an enslaved person would have it is hard to get a full understanding on how these people where treated, and what they went through. One-way to understand this better it to read some of the works of literature that had been written by former slaves. Two very well known works of literature that have been written by a former slaves are “Narrative of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave, Written By Himself” and “Incidents Of The Life Of A Slave Girl” written by Harriet Jacobs. Though these two works are about similar situations they offer a much different point of view from each other. “Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass An American Slave Written By Himself” offers a point of view of a male salve. It describes the life and struggles that Fredrick Douglass had to go through …show more content…
Jacobs being a young female slave going through not just the everyday struggles of slavery but also facing the sexual abuse of her master helps white women be able to more closely relate to her and other female slaves. Being that even white women were oppressed at this time they were able to truly have sympathy for these enslaved females. Jacobs focuses on the victimization Pacella 4 of women, with a focus on enslaved women being the biggest victim. During this time white women were valued for their sexual chastity, and black women for their sexual permissiveness. Though it was frowned upon by other women during this time to not be pure the slave women had almost no option in the matter because of their slave masters taking advantage of them. (Odyssey