When reading Harriet Jacobs/Linda Brent’s autobiography addressing her life as a slave who grew up in the deep south and who later fled to the North, two important characters make an impact on her life. Like many people, Jacobs/Brent’s life actions are heavily impacted by the people and the atmosphere around her, driving her decisions, wants, and desires. Although Jacob/Brent’s grandmother makes an impact on her life, Dr. Flint makes a greater impact on her life. With his pushing, he helps determine whom she has children with, controls her life through the livelihood of her children, and even impacts her life after he has passed away through his surviving daughter and son-in-law. Throughout the story, Harriet Jacobs/Linda Brent’s grandmother …show more content…
Flint makes on Jacobs/Brent’s life wasn’t even when he was still alive, but rather when his daughter and her husband return to New England, looking for Jacobs/Brent whom they claim there’s. With the Fugitive Slave Act, white Americans were required to return slaves to their owners even if they were free in a Northern state; something that Jacobs/Brent was not but was still able to enjoy more freedom than she had before in South Carolina. In an attempt to keep her safe, Mrs. Bruce offers to buy her freedom, giving Jacobs/Brent a refugee after being chased for nearly half her life. Jacobs/Brent (2001) writes of the letter she received from Mrs. Bruce after her freedom had been successfully bought: “I am rejoiced to tell you that the money for your freedom has been paid to Mr. Dodge. Come home to-morrow. I long to see you and my sweet babe” (pg. 163.) If it was never for Dr. Flint’s daughter, Mrs. Dodge, coming to New York looking for Jacobs/Brent, there could have been a very unlikely chance that Mrs. Bruce would have never bought her freedom. Without even knowing it, Dr. Flint gave Jacobs/Brent the greatest gift of all after all the horrors he put her through.