Harriet Ann Jacobs Incidents Of The Life Of A Slave Girl

In the autobiography, Incidents of the Life of the Slave Girl (1861), written by Harriet Ann Jacobs relates to readers when telling her experience throughout the course of her life. After the death of her kindhearted, and loving mistress it was then that Jacobs finally came to a haunting realization that her life will begin astray. In addition, while consuming this heartbreaking information at a young age, it was also when she knew she was a slave. Throughout the course of the autobiography, Jacobs uses the pseudonym Linda Brent. With that being said, Linda Brent (a.k.a. Harriet Jacobs) uses a slave narrative to address and explore the struggles, torment, and sexual abuse that female slaves faced on plantations, as well as their efforts

Although Ursula was not a slave herself and is not in a relationship with a white man she still shares that lineage of enslavement dating back to her ancestors, hence inheriting the past lives of her ancestors. Mutt conveys the dominant characteristic that one can say the white slave master Corregidora may have exemplified. In the text Mutt says “I don’t like those men messing with you … Mess with the eyes” (Gayl Jones 3). In this excerpt one is inclined to note Mutts comment as possessive with an essence of masculine domination. His representation of Ursula is not a view as a person but as an object, one that he wants only for himself, not giving others the luxury of enjoying her. Mutt’s name alone promotes readers to view him as a man with dog like characteristics; he tells Ursula that she must listen to him because he is her husband instilling that authoritative position by pushing her down the

In the text Dana experiences her first instance of “rape” in the second chapter when at first sight a white gang member who sets his eyes on Dana and immediately tries to take advantage of her. Black slave women often became impregnated by their masters, we see an example of this is portrayed when “I had helped [Tess] with the washing several times- had done as much of it as I could myself recently because Weylin had casually begun taking her to bed, and had hurt her. Apparently she paid her debts” (Butler 91). Race was not only the singular factor that Tom Weylin possessed power over in regards to his slaves but gender played an issue as well especially when he sets his eyes on someone. Tom even took a liking to Dana and strikes her when she calls out for Kevin’s assistance. In regards to trauma young girls and women who were black suffered through the fact that their first sexual encounter would be an act of rape or sexual abuse. One of the many struggles for several of the women characters with in the text is being a women and a slave at the same time. Their wants and desires has no place under the domination of slavery within the confinement over