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Incidences In The Life Of A Slave Girl

Being a slave was the most dreadful thing that had happened to Linda. She was taken as

property of her owner and had no freedom of doing her things. The slave owners thought of them

as no humans, and they had to do according to their master's will (Kaczmarek, Halina, p. 20). As

we buy and sell stuff, that's how Linda could be bought and sold at any time the master chooses

and whoever offered good money. The slaves were auctioned in slave markets, and those who

wanted slaves placed their bids, as Linda recalls the day her grandmother was auctioned. Linda

lost both her parents though at different intervals; this made her feel alone in the world

(Kaczmarek, Halina, p. 30). Her father made her and her siblings feel free, but in the real sense,

they were not. It was heartbreaking the way she could not be permitted to go to her father's house

and mourn him. Instead, she was sent to fetch flowers for decorating her mistress’s house

(Kaczmarek, Halina, 35). As a slave, she could do a lot of chaos which went unnoticed and even

unpaid.

The masters were so immoral that they also harassed the slaves sexually. If a slave bore

children with their masters, they had no right to claim then. A child born of a slave girl was

directly taking over the status of slaves. At a very tender age, the children would grow and

eventually become properties of the masters until they could be sold. The mistresses had no

right to question their husbands of the affairs with slave girls because, after all, the status did not

change (Kaczmarek, Halina, p.50). The slaves had no right to tell who their children’s biological
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fathers were. Doctor Flint’s sexual advances have put the relationship between Linda, Flint's

wife, and Flint himself at longer heads. First, doctor Flint makes the sexual advances relentlessly

and even changes from using violent threats to using promising words to trap her. It eventually

becomes known to the wife, who has no power to do anything. Instead of dealing with the

husband, she turns and blames Linda for arousing her master (Kaczmarek, Halina, p.55). Even

after Linda's grandmother offers to buy Linda's freedom, the master denies it so he can have her

all to himself. The masters' wives could do nothing; rather, they ended up being manipulated by

their husbands hence had no chance to feel any form of pride. The sexual advances from doctor

Flint made Linda feel so uncomfortable to an extend she sought to hide in her grandmother's

shed, in a dark rodent-infested crawl space for seven years. It is really hard to live hidden for so

many years and separated from your children. Linda could watch her children from hiding but

could not talk to her. She watched as her children were manipulated by dr. Flint to tell him the

whereabouts of their mother. Escape chance was the only thing that could have saved Linda,

which was hard to get and deadly once caught. During this time, Linda had to fall in love with

Mr. sands, whom later they had two children.

Linda’s Affair With Dr. Sands

At this juncture, Linda felt secure because she thought that her master, dr. Flint, would

eventually give up his sexual advances towards her once he knew she was pregnant. And truly,

Mr. Sands was able to protect Linda, though not for long (Kaczmarek, Halina, p.70). Dr. flint

enslaved Linda's children and her brother, yet Mr. Sands did nothing to help her. It is evident that

Mr. Sands knew the place and its condition, where Linda was hiding, which inflicted diseases to

her, yet Sands did not help. However, Sands was much kinder than dr. Flint, but their salvage

behaviors towards slave girls made them just the same.

Relationships Among Slaves And Free Blacks In South

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Linda had a hard time, just like any other black girl in the antebellum south. Even those

free blacks had no freedom in the south as they were not allowed to move from the south and

interact with others. Though life was unbearable, the slaves endured, and they were trustworthy

to each other and hoped that they would gain their freedom one day. One case that shows that the

free blacks were trustworthy to each other is when they hid Linda from being caught by her

owners (Kaczmarek, Halina, p.150). They would hide her and say nothing even after being arrested

and punished. The free blacks and other enslaved blacks hid Linda until she got her freedom. It

was also hard for these slaves in the south to gain freedom as they could not assemble with other

slaves. If they went to churches, the whites would give sermons that encourage slaves to be

obedient to their masters, which Linda terms as hypocrisy. Linda gives an example of what the

catholic church should do, that of a slave owner who would teach their slaves how to read and

write and eventually set them free. The antebellum south situation was very different from the

north (Kaczmarek, Halina, p.180). Slave houses and free blacks involved in slave rebellion

movements would be raided and captured, and others killed.

Live Of Free Blacks In The North

Free blacks in the north had freedom and could interact with whites against slavery

(Kaczmarek, Halina, p.200). The institutions of slavery were first abolished in the north yet

continued in the south. The only haven for slaves in the south was to escape and travel to free

states that had abolished slavery. Though the free blacks here had freedom, it was hard to feed,

dress, and get shelter. The freed slaves would warn others that it is hard, and they go for days

without food.

Status Of American Woman And Black Woman During Slave Era

Black women who were enslaved could not reach American women's status, which is

because the American women were educated. American women knew how to read and write.
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Black women only knew how to work but had no chance to interact with others. Another

difference is that blacks always faced prejudice and stereotype. Blacks are viewed as people who

have no place in the white man's land. I do believe that this was effective literature as it depicts

life in slavery. Also, it brings out the differences that existed between slaves and their owners.

Works cited

Kaczmarek, Halina. "The image of black womanhood in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet

Jacobs." (2018).