Incidents in the Life of a Sla

A detailed Summary of Incidents in the Life of a Sla

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

In her essay, "Loopholes of Resistance," Michelle Burnham argues that "Aunt Marthy's garret does not offer a retreat from the oppressive conditions of slavery - as, one might argue, the communal life in Aunt Marthy's house does - so much as it enacts a repetition of them...[Thus] Harriet Jacobs escapes reigning discourses in structures only in the very process of affirming them" (289). In order to support this, one must first agree that Aunt Marthy's house provides a retreat from slavery. I do not. Burnham seems to view the life inside Aunt Marthy's house as one outside of and apart from slavery where family structure can exist, the mind can find some rest, comfort can be given, and a sense of peace and humanity can be achieved. In contrast, Burnham views the garret as a physical embodiment of the horrors of slavery, a place where family can only dream about being together, the mind is subjected to psychological warfare, comfort is non-existent, and only the fear and apprehension of inhumanity can be found. It is true that Aunt Marthy's house paints and entirely different, much less severe, picture of slavery than that of the garret, but still, it is a picture of slavery differing onl

Because it offers them the possibility of community and identity, many slaves find themselves strongly attached to religion. They cannot build a family structure and they cannot be identified by family name, but through the church, they can build a community and identify themselves as Christians. This comfort becomes virtually non-existent for it too is controlled by the slaveowners who "came to the conclusion that it would be well to give the slaves enough of religious instruction to keep them from murdering their masters" (57). The fact that one person could have the ability to control the amount of religion another person has and his purpose for having it diminishes any sense of community or identity that it may have initially provided.

The refuge that one often finds within the confines of family and self are unattainable in the life of a slave because, in essence, he is entitled to nether. To have a child is only to provide the slaveowner with "an addition to his stock of slaves" (52) that could be torn away and sold at his leisure and to have a family is to live in fear of this day. Linda's father's "strongest wish was to purchase his children; but though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded" (9). He was denied the right to have his family and refused the possibility to purchase that on which decency could never put a price tag. Identification with family ties is a luxury that is just not afforded to the slave community. Even within Aunt Marthy's house, the home of a free woman, family structure was not allowed to flourish. Since Dr. Flint "had the power of law on his side" (70), there was nothing to stop him from ravaging this so-called retreat and continuing his persecutions within. Therefore, how could one f

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Approximate Word count = 1202
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English