Having your childhood is the most heart-breaking part of life because that makes you who you are as you grow up and is something you cannot repeat or forget about it. This is what happened to Linda in this book. The title of the book is Incidents in the Life of a Salve Girl whose author is Harriet Ann Jacobs.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was biography and slave narrative. This book has many themes, but the most important one is that no matter how complicated the situation is family will always have your back and will support you in anything you need. In this paper I will give a background story about everything she went through to get her freedom, how it affected and how I can connect with Linda.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was about how a young girl named Linda went through slavery and how she fought to be free. At the beginning of the book Linda was living a happy childhood life meaning not being a slave to anyone, but as soon as her mother died her happy life went to an end.
When Linda’s mother dies she goes to live with her mistress mother which thought Linda how to sew and read, then mistress died and became slave of a mistress that was five years old named Emily Flint, while Linda was only twelve years old. As Linda grows into puberty the father of Emily Flint, named Dr. Flint starts to whisper gross things in her ear, writes dirty notes to her, and even Dr. Flint builds a secret cabin which would be their love nest.
“When he told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in everything: that I was nothing but a slave.” Linda never had sexual relationships with Dr. Flint, but she had a plan in which the outcome would be her freedom. Her secret plan was to have sex with anyone but not Dr. Flint and end up pregnant, so Dr. Flint would be so disgusted of her and sell her, the person she chose to have sexual relationships was and unmarried man named Mr. Sanders.
Linda plan went well until she noticed that Dr. Flint was uninterested in selling her off and that he was very cruel that Dr. flint was consoled that Linda child was going to be his slave. Later Dr. Flint made Linda take a decision between having sexual relationships with him and letting her and her two children free or work on the field, the decision she takes was to work on the field because she had another secret plan.
After a month in working in the plantation she went to hide in her grandmother’s shed, where she can watch her children in the plantation, her plan was to make Dr. Flint assume Linda had gone north, so he would sell her children for revenge. This plan did not go well again as the other secret plan, Dr. Flint did not give up and made a trip to New York to find her. He ends up harassing Linda’s friends and family to give information about her, Dr. Flint keeps Linda’s children by his side because he assumes that Linda will come back for her children.
This goes on for about seven years until Linda’s friends and family and some abolitionists helped Linda escape to New York. When she arrived in New York she started to work with a woman named Mrs. Bruce, she then received the news that Dr. Flint had died, and his will was that he left Linda and her children to a new master. Mrs. Bruce took a step into secretly arranging to buy the freedom of Linda and her two children for a small sum of money. Linda was free and was happy, but not completely happy she was still wishing to have a home for her and her children.
The book of the Incidents in the Life of a Salve Girl was very emotional book in the way that Linda as a mother did everything to get her children to be free. A mother will always be there for their children and this what Linda has shown that no matter what circumstances a mother should always car for their children. In chapter 19 Linda says, “Whatever slavery might do to me, it could not shackle my children.”
This quote really explains the fact she will give her life for her children to be free from slavery. I can identify with that because my mother has always given up things she wants for us who want something even though we don’t need it. The book was a very heart touching story that I do recommend this book for people to read because it tells a true story on how the childhood of young girl is ruined by slavery to just want to be free.
Slavery destroyed many families, children being sold to different masters separating from their mothers which was very sad. Children childhoods were being destroyed, they were never happy since they separated them from their parents and had a mean master unless they had a good master like Linda had in the beginning, but it was rarely to have one. The book describes how hard slavery was, what it did to many African American and how it affected their life.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl at the end Linda was happy to have her children free, but really, she was not that happy because she did not have a home for her children and her. This is shown in the last chapter, “The dream of my life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own, I still long for a hearthstone of my own, however humble.” Linda was very sad that she did not have a home to herself but was very thankful with Mrs. Bruce for helping her buy the freedom of her and her children.
The point of this is that the author left out if she ever had a home to herself or what happened after years, it would have been good to know if she ever had a home to herself with her children or did she spent her life living with Mrs. Bruce. Some of the questions I would ask the author would be why she chose to have sexual relationships with Mr. Sanders rather than with Mr. Flint and did she have her second children with Mr. Sanders or was it with someone else. One of my other questions to the author would be what Mr. Flint do all those seven years that he did not have Linda with her.
Incidents in the Life of a Salve Girl is a story from an innocent little girl named Linda who was living a nice childhood and suddenly her life changes so quickly. She did not what was going on until she knew she had become a slave.
During all those years of slavery her life changed dramatically she had to have sexual relationships with an unmarried man named Mr. Sanders to have her freedom from her master’s father, Mr. Flint. Though both of her secret plans to be free did not went well the help of her family made her plans work in some way. This book showed that family and friend is the most important thing because they are always going to be there and support you in any situation.
Such as Mrs. Bruce who was the best person Linda could meet, because thanks to her she bought the freedom of Linda and both of their children. There will always be good people that will help you in anything when need help. Also, this demonstrated that the love a of a mother is unconditional, Linda did two secret plans to get her and her children freedom, meaning a mother will do anything for their children no matter the situation and what you must do.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl demonstrates how life was hard for African Americans and how children’s childhood was ruined by slavery which a perfect example would be Linda. Probably reading this book would give a clear view of what a mother would do to have freedom for her children as well what other slaves would do to be free from a harsh life with their masters.
