Quotations are in red.
Italics indicate instructor comments and questions.
Human Being as Furniture
1. Several times throughout her work, Jacobs describes the dehumanization that comes with being a slave. For instance, she writes about how slaves were treated as mere objects stating that she “never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise”
2. Even though Jacobs was treated well by her first mistress – taught to read and write, being allowed time to play, and was not assigned any “toilsome or disagreeable duties” – she was still property in the eyes of the law. She realized the extent of this when her first mistress died, and instead of being emancipated, she was given to her late mistress’s niece. To slaveowners, slaves were less people and more “the cotton they plant, or the horses they tend.”
Consider how the system affects everyone: Her father's "strongest wish was to purchase his children"
"... she had bequeathed me to her sister's daughter, a child of five years old;" Jacobs is herself 12 at the time.
Human Being as Furniture that Reproduces
3. …the relationship between slave and slaveowner in this autobiography is quite different than what I often have heard, with passions being much higher than a mere economic system.
4. ". . . slaveholders have been cunning enough to enact that 'the child shall follow the condition of the mother,' not of the father; thus taking care that licentiousness shall not interfere with avarice."
5. . . . [Jacobs] writes about the jealousy of Dr. Flint’s wife, “... Dr. Flint’s persecutions and his wife’s jealousy had given rise to some gossip in the neighborhood” but, then goes on to write about an unmarried white gentleman, “He constantly sought opportunities to see me, and wrote to me frequently[.]”
6. I was confused about the paternity of [Jacobs's]’ children . . .
Rape House
7. [Jacobs’s] master decides to build a lonely cottage for [Jacobs] to live [in,] completely isolated from the community. The juxtaposition of her protected childhood and the threat of living in isolation is a testament to the way slaves were made to feel and believe that they were less than human.
8. ‘Life of A Slave Girl’ is a very apt title for this text indeed. Not only does it give firsthand insight into the horrors and atrocities that slaves had to endure, but it is very specifically the biography of a slave girl. Not only did she daily face the danger of both being a slave and legally categorized as property, but from the beginning of her development has had to tow the very thin line between satisfying different white men and women in order to stay safe, as well as avoid the jealous wrath of her owner’s mistress; “After my lover went away, Dr. Flint contrived a new plan. He seemed to have an idea that my fear of my mistress was his greatest obstacle. In the blandest tones, he told me that he was going to build a small house for me, in a secluded place, four miles away from the town. I shuddered; but I was constrained to listen, while he talked of his intention to give me a home of my own, and to make a lady of me” (Jacobs).
9. Jacobs follows this contriving every possible plan to get out away from her pedophilic, monstrous master and hopefully obtain her freedom.
The Emotional Life of the Slaver
10. No matter how Linda [. . .] responded, she would have been punished. Yet, she is physically abused by Dr. Flint when she tells him the truth. To make matters worse, Dr. Flint tries to paint himself as some sort of saint[:]“You have been the plague of my life. I have wanted to make you happy, and I have been repaid with the basest ingratitude; but though you have proved yourself incapable of appreciating my kindness…” I’m hesitant to use this word, but it feels like gaslighting. He is trying to convince Linda that she is the one in the wrong, but because he’s such a “kind” person, he’ll give her another chance.
11. Something that stood out to me about Incidents of a Slave Girl was the odd attachment Dr. Flint had towards Linda. We are given examples of this when Linda tells him about the man she’s marrying, he says “I’ll soon convince you of whether I’m your master.” Dr Flint keeps a close eye on Linda and the author soon broaches the subject of his attachment yet again when Dr. Flint confronts Linda after catching her with the carpenter he asks, “when is mistress to be married.” I get the sense Dr. Flint feels betrayed, blindsided, and perhaps a little jealous that Linda would even consider leaving the family to marry a man and create her own.
12. After Linda talks back to Flint, he threatens to send her to jail, and she says there would be, “more peace for me there than there is here.” To this, he replied, “But I am not ready to send you there yet, notwithstanding all your ingratitude for all my kindness and forbearance. You have been the plague of my life. I have wanted to make you happy, and I have been repaid with the basest of ingratitude.” Dr. Flint feels that Linda has been ungrateful for the things he has given her. I find this terribly ironic, because as Jacobs detailed, many times he had berated her endlessly, calling her horrible names, and abused her to no end. Dr. Flint deserved more hatred than she could ever show him, and yet he acted as a victim to her “ungratefulness.” He felt as though he was owed respect and gratitude, when Linda was his property, and he treated her as trash. It is also ironic that he called her a “plague” to him, as if she had chosen to stay a slave to him. When in reality, he refused to let her go, even when someone offered to pay for her.
The Emotional Life of the Slave
13. Chapter ten was extremely surprising when Linda became pregnant with the white lawyer's child. The feeling of discomfort settled over me when Linda tried to speak with her grandmother, and felt like a disgrace.
14. To read the true story of a fifteen year old girl, feeling shame over her last ditch effort to save not just her material body but her pride, leaves an acrid taste in your mouth. That is what she was[: a] bright fifteen year old girl, not a "God-breathing machine[,]" but a child who found getting pregnant by another (hopefully kinder) grown white man to be more palatable than having it forced upon her by a different grown man by power of hierarchy.What is most interesting about Jacob’s narrative is her focus on her feelings towards her predicament. When she revealed her pregnancy to her master she says “My self-respect was gone! I had resolved that I would be virtuous, though I was a slave!” . . . . Most people now would chalk up her actions as necessary deeds committed in a valiant effort for freedom. Jacob however, does not so easily forgive herself. She sees the need for the things she did but also still feels shame for doing them.
15. [Jacobs] notes that men and women have different
experiences under slavery, one big difference being the sexual
exploitation of women. Female slave, according to Jacobs, undergo “wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications” unlike that of men. To avoid the advances of
Flint, Jacobs becomes pregnant by another man of her choosing. She
initially feels proud of her decision, feeling that she has triumphed over
her tormenter, because choosing a different partner feels less “degrading” than submitting to Flint. However, [afterwards] she
feels ashamed, as she is now impure and looked down upon even more by
society. Living in America in the1800’s meant living in a Christian
society where women were expected to be faithful wives and dutiful
mothers. The pressures of this society to be sexually pure exacerbated the
shame Jacobs, and many other slaves, felt since they were assaulted by
their masters regularly. Jacobs laments that her situation as a mother is
so different to that her own mother’s situation. She laments that she is
not married and that she cannot present her children for baptism with her
head held high, as her mother had. She describes her own situation, and
that of her own children, as “one class of evils that generally fall upon slaves.”
How far have we come since such a time?
How to respond?
16. I found myself crying by the end of the reading for this week. In chapters 7 and 10, [Jacobs] tells us about an ongoing battle she has been fighting. [It's] never mentioned explicitly what is happening. The exact words never used. Dr. Flint (who became [Jacobs's] master after the passing of her former, kind mistress) was sexually harrassing her. He was unrelenting in his pursuit of [Jacobs], not seeing her as a person, but more an object. He exercised his power over her constantly. A free, black man who was kind and intelligent and in love with [Jacobs] asked her to marry him[;] Dr. Flint did not take it well. In fact, his response was “If I ever know of your speaking to him, I will cowhide you both” and “Many masters would have killed you on the spot. How would you like to be sent to jail for your insolence?” cannot defend herself, without being threatened. Her every action is monitored, with her master’s presence looming over her. I shudder to think of all the black people and women who resonate with this story. I consider Dr. Flint’s behavior to be atrocious. A significant other, a boss, or a family member should never feel they have the right to a [person's] being. . . .
17. Non-fiction texts like this, especially of this variety, tend to leave me at a loss for words. It feels like a moment to listen. A moment where I shouldn’t have anything to say except defending anti-racism and solemn solidarity. When you cannot fathom someone else’s experience, that is the time to be receptive, and respectful.
18. I found comfort in the quote in the first paragraph of chapter 10, “I was determined that the master, whom I so hated and loathed, who had blighted the prospects of my youth, and made my life a desert, should not, after my long struggle with him, succeed at last in trampling his victim under his feet. I would do any thing, every thing, for the sake of defeating him.” Such strength, and perseverance from Harriet. It would have been easier for her to stop fighting, to concede to her master’s wishes. I hope her story gave hope to people, and I hope it still continues to do so.
19. ... Jacobs and Douglass were both rebellious towards their masters. Douglass subdued his master once when he was attacked, and Jacobs shot back at her master with words, saying, “You have struck me for answering you honestly. How I despise you!” and “you have no right to do as you like with me.” It required a great deal of bravery and boldness for both of these acts to take place, and I was able to see that in both cases.
Question: For readers in the 21st century, what is the value of reading about the horrific acts of some other people that took place almost 200 years ago? Is this an instance of "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it?" Is this an instance of "We are not as far from this kind of behavior as we might like to believe"?
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