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The Trials Of Girlhood Harriet Jacobs Summary

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In the history of the United States, slavery was and is considered one of the most inexcusable tragedies. Fortunately many slaves wrote about their experience in slavery, some authors known more than others but the stories are still the same. This will be an analysis of the lives of Harriet Jacobs, known as “Linda Brent” and the more known Fredrick Douglass, about their work as slaves and how their gender influenced their experience .
Slavery was a terrible thing that did not give special treatment to any gender. Most slaves were overworked frequently, underfed, and all lived in fear. Fear ruled over the slaves, for if they did not do what they are told there would be great consequences enforced by the slaveholders. Both genders …show more content…

She is constantly being harassed sexually in many different forms. Dr.Flint does everything he can to have some form of contact with Jacobs in order to “propose” his intentions to her. He writes letters and also tries to have conversations with her. The best quote that described the situation is when Jacobs wrote “My master met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him, and swearing by heaven and earth that he would compel me to submit to him.” Jacobs was not even allowed to talk to someone about the ongoing situation, most of all she was specifically not allowed to talk to her grandmother, with whom she had a very close bond. Dr.Flint threatened to kill Jacobs if she tells anybody, especially her grandmother. Jacobs did all she could to avoid Dr.Flint, because of this she also faced psychological effects from the harassment. From the very beginning it is noticed that Jacobs was raised to be a lady and to be pure and Jacobs held on to that purity, nevertheless finally she had to let that go in order to escape Dr.Flint. Jacobs got pregnant by a white man to whom she had no feelings of love for. She saw it as something that had to be done, since she knew that Dr.Flint would lose interest in her, and that he would send her away. Jacobs gave up her personal values in order to escape her

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As a woman, Harriet Jacobs faced unique challenges in the slave society. She was forced to endure sexual abuse from her owner and struggled to protect her children from the same abuse. This experience is clear in her narrative, which focuses mainly on the sexual misuse of female slaves. She writes with passion, using her own experiences to gain the attention of free women in the North (Jacobs).

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When Jacobs escapes to New York, she is employed as a nurse to a white family and often accompanies them to dinners and events. This experience teaches Jacobs that even though most people in the North considered themselves abolitionists, they were still racist toward African Americans. While at a dinner with the family she is employed by, she is asked to “seat the little girl in the chair, and stand behind it and feed her,” (page 144) when she sits the child in her lap. She emphasizes the fact that no matter where she goes, slavery and racism will always follow

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Jacobs (Linda) did not want to be forced into such encounters with her master, which caused her to strive so hard to put herself in the hands of another being. In the book Jacobs (Linda) went as far as to having children with the neighbor in hopes of trying to get her master to sell her

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At age fifteen, afraid that Norcom would subsequently rape her, Jacobs started a relationship with a white neighbor, Samuel Tredwell Sawyer and with him she had children while in her home. This activity caused problems in Norcom, Jacobs’s affair which enraged him. In 1835, he caused her to endure lifestyles of difficult exertions on a plantation he owned, also threatening to break in her young kids as discipline

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This exposure to oppression shaped her to be the person she is today. As her “Incidents” show, she was not afraid to use her past as a stepping stone for future success. Truth and Jacobs’ sacrifices demonstrate the evolution one might call rags to riches. In this case, however, the riches displays a sense of impact that both women achieve. They fought until their dying breaths and their legacy still holds strong

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So she stood up to Cecil Jacobs not caring what others thought of her. For instance, as Aunt

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He was soon informed that this was the train of The Benzini Brothers Circus. The main conflict that Jacob faces is that he fell in love with one of the circus performers, Marlena, who is married to August, a guy with a wicked temper. Some things that complicate the conflict is when Marlena gets pregnant and they have to get out because August started beating her. Jacob did everything he could but he basically got kicked of the circus. The conflict was resolved one night when the animals got loose and Jachob’s elephant smashed in Augusts head and killed him.

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Analogous in form to the spiritual autobiography, the slave narrative emphasizes the difficulty of upholding moral goodness under the weight of slavery. By revealing herself as a “fallen woman” Jacobs creates a hazardous problem, capable of eliminating the sympathies of a primarily white audience. Moreover, Jacobs risks portraying herself as an impure woman, whose virtuousness departs from the piousness and gracefulness typically exemplified by the ideal woman or “angel in the house,” according to the “Cult of True Womanhood.” Therefore, in an effort to preserve the ethos of her argument, Jacobs attributes her unchaste condition to the systemic effects of American slavery. Hoping to destroy the ideology of benign paternalism, Jacobs reveals her consequential ethical dilemma through a faint description of her master’s, Dr. Flint’s, licentious behavior.

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Lastly, Water for Elephants greatly portrays Jacob’s internal feelings about every situation. The first person point of view is key in conveying Jacobs thoughts, and the readers are able to see the reasoning for Jacob’s actions, along with the intricacies of his personality; this is crucial in order for the reader to develop a deeper understanding of the book. A clear scene where Jacob reveals his thoughts is when he expresses concern for Marlena after her injury. “As the days pass, I grow more anxious about Marlena. Each time I approach the cookhouse I hope that I’ll find her there.

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The emotional and sexual abuse was awful for Jacobs. In her narrative she talks about how horrible it really was for women "My master began to whisper foul words in my ear." Her master told her she was property "He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things." She says how she had to give up their children "The children were sold to a slave-trader,

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Document 7, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, reflects both the cult of

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At the age of six, her mother died and she was forced to live with Margaret Horniblow, the mother’s owner. The mistress took a good care of Jacobs and taught her how to read, write and sew. Her father was always telling her to feel free and do not feel someones property. While her grandmother was always teaching Jacobs respect and manners. She was always telling her about principles and ethnics.

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To live under other directions by destroying own respect and relationships makes life meaningless and hard to build self-confidence. Sex slavery makes Jacob extremely shameful and painful in her entire life. She had to obey her master Dr. Flint command in any circumstances. He ordered to build a quarter for her to live separate and alone than other slave, but she would rather die before she stepped in that quarter. The extreme pain she had in her entire life was when she gets pregnant before marriage; therefore, she had lost her respect in the society and that was the consequences of the slavery.

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Because how she is treated by Senhor as a sex slave, she does not want her daughter to suffer like her. On the other hand, she sees Jacob as a chance for protecting her daughter from sexual abuse like her, hoping Jacob would give her

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