Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Analysis

Within the narrative Incidents in the life of a slave girl by Harriet A Jacobs 8 there are approximately six people who impact the story in such a way that it would be gravely different without them. These people would include Linda herself, Doctor and Mrs. Flint, the good grandmother, and Linda’s two children. If we were to analyze these characters according to the values represented by Socrates in the book Republic we would find that, according to Socrates only three of these six people possess just souls. According to the guidelines in Republic by Plato10 only the good grandmother and the two children have truly just souls. Doctor Flint would not be presumed as having a just soul by many people today, and certainly not by Plato’s standards.

I do not wish to discount the fact that Linda is indeed the victim in this case; however, Linda is not completely innocent either. Let us start by looking at Dr. Flint’s advances towards her; she describes them in little detail, however she makes many excuses as to why her decision to have a child by Mr. Sands was her only way to evade the doctor. She tried to go to Mrs. Flint, she devotes a whole chapter to why she cannot go north, but she fails to explain why she did not go to her grandmother. In this she is attempting to cover the fact that she wanted to have a child by another man in part out of her spite towards Dr. Flint. She is deliberately causing harm to Dr. Flint by showing him that he has not gained full control over her that he desired. If a just person according to the arguments in Republic is a person who does not do harm to others10, then Linda must be unjust. An even more evident example of Linda having an unjust soul can be seen throughout the second half of the book. Linda hides as a fugitive in her grandmother’s home for seven years. She was willing to risk having her own family and children killed, imprisoned, beaten, or sold just to entertain the idea that she might be free from doctor Flint. The author would like us to believe that her escape was the only one possible in seven years. This is very unreasonable to think. She certainly had other times in which she could have gone north, but she did not. She chose to stay and risk the well being of her grandmother and children for several very selfish and unjust reasons. She alludes to the fact that she gets some enjoyment knowing that she can be so close to the doctor and he cannot get to her. She enjoys the fact that she now has the power to beat Doctor Flint at his own game. She begins sending him