Incidents in the Life of a Sla

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 only

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Flint, Aunt Marthys, Harriet Jacobs, Dr Flints, Flint York, aunt marthys, aunt marthys house, dr flint, marthys house, family self, Slave Girl, life slave, family structure, Michelle Burnham, Life Slave, Incidents Life, life slave girl, community identity, offer retreat, slavery life, slavery family, life slavery life, incidents life slave,
Approximate Word count = 1202
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)