Identity in the first portion of Ch. 1

Very early on the book, I noticed something interesting. The first chapter is entitled, “Childhood,” and when someone asks me about my childhood, my first and natural response is, “Well, I grew up in Pittsburgh . . .” This was not the case for Linda. The first thing that we learn about Linda is about her father. He was a skilled carpenter; she takes pride in this. I feel that she says this right from the start to show the readers that her father, grandmother, and family were not “just normal slaves.” I think she takes some type of identity in this; she finds her identity in her father’s skill. He was not just a slave; he had useful skills, and many slaves were not educated in this way. Linda has so much pride in the fact that her father did know a trade. It is interesting to me that she did not start out with “My name is Linda, and I was a slave growing up.” She does not primarily see herself as a slave but as a daughter, a granddaughter, and a member of her family. Because of this, there is so much love and protection between the members of her family, and I believe that this will bind her to something greater and something beyond herself. I found it incredible that she took to much pride and found her identity in her family and their skills because many slaves did not have this outlet. They did not have the chance to grow up with their families, but Linda’s grandmother tried as hard as she could to keep them all together.

Blog post #4 for Emily

I noticed in the chapter 'Trials of Girlhood', that Linda says that she treated Dr. Flint's filthy, degrading comments in her ear with contempt and indifference, and that he put up with her reactions toward them out of fear that Linda's grandmother would receive word of what was going on. Is Dr. Flint afraid of her grandmother? Is her grandmother's power as a free black woman, however uninfluencial it is, any reason for him to be careful with his conduct toward Linda? I guess, I'll attempt to answer my own questions. I think Dr. Flint could have been afraid that his reputation for corrupting young slave girls' minds would be revealed if Lindas grandmother found out. She was well-known in town for her freedom and good living as a black woman. She may have been able to turn people against him if she found out that Linda was being sexually abused. But then again, wasn't she Dr. Flint's property? What good would that do?

Woman's Plight

Something I've noticed in my reading as well as in the notes that Cindy sent all of us is that this novel is very feminist in nature...Duh!! But I guess I want to point out what I see in the readings that support this idea.

First of all, Linda's grandmother always had something for her to eat while she was running errands for her master and mistress. Even when she couldn't stop for the sake of time, Linda got a morsel of food on her way back because her grandmother didn't know when her baby would eat again. This is not only supporting the theme of family unity, but also the idea of a woman's plight. We never see any male figure caring for Linda. It is always either her grandmother or a female friend that helps her.

I think this is significant to the plight of woman because women are always expected to be the caregivers, nurtures for children. In this book, the women in Linda's life are mostly safe figures for her, with the exception of Mrs. Flint.

What do you guys think? Do you think this book applies to the plight of woman because of the plot, or simply because it falls into the category of feminist writing due to the author being female. Remember, slaves narratives of the time usually only covered the lives of male slaves.

Happy writing!!

Emerging Themes

In the first few chapters of this book, it is very apparent to me that the concept of a strong family unit is very important to Linda and other characters of the story. Interestingly, it is the gospel message that unites and bonds Linda (particularly to her grandmother) and her family. While they may be separated for a time, being sold all over the south, their hearts remain united to one another and there is always hope that they will be reunited with one another.

I find it interesting that today families are disintegrating. This logically doesn't make sense to me. During the slave era, in which Linda and her family lives, they had all reason to despair of life. Today, families live in luxury and opulence but are falling apart every moment. It seems that life should be easy-breezy for modern families and difficult for Linda's family, but the exact opposite is true.

So I pose the question...what is it about Linda and her family that keeps them so united in heart?

I think the answer is that Linda has put her hope in God, trusting that He will rescue ALL His children and one day they will be together again. Many families don't believe this today. So the only reason that Linda and her family were able to not lose hope is because of their faith in an Almighty God. No wonder so many gospel songs were written during this era. These people know in Whom true hope exists.

This teaches us that despite our circumstances, the Lord will see us through. So take heart! Do not despair! We have a lot to learn from Linda and her family. I'm excited to share with you as I trace the theme of hope and family dedication throughout the rest of the book.

Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1

Jacobs begins her story with a preface stating that she wrote this while slavery was still a major issue in the states. Although she had moved to the North and obtained freedom, she still had family who was still in bondage. Therefore, she changed her name to the psuedonym Linda Brent, as well as the names of other characters in order to the protect the people she wrote about.

Chapter 1, Childhoood, talks about Linda's upbringing as a slave under a kind mistress. She was privileged as a slave girl under the possession of this mistress, as she was taught how to read and spell, something not very many slaves had the opportunity to do. Even when her mistress died, she sat over her grave and let the tears fall. I'm curious as the whether this was because she sincerely cared about her, even though she was aware of her bondage, or if it was out of fear that her life was baout to take a turn for the worse.

I was deeply moved by the part when Linda talks about the biblical truths that her mistress taught her, such as loving your neighbor as yourself. Linda was aware even at a young age that her situation worked against this system, considering she was not treated equally to white people.

I'm curious to see where her life takes her.

Preface, Introduction and Chapters 1-4

"Incidents" begins with a Preface by the author that establishes that it fits the first criteria for a slave narrative: It proclaims that it is anautobiographical account of the life of Harriet Jacobs, although she has changed her name and the names of others to protect them. In the account she calls herself Linda. The next element is an endorsement by a white friend saying the work is authentic. This is written and included in the Introduction.

In the first chapter, "Linda" relates the story of the circumstances that allowed her to be unaware that she was a slave until her mother's death when Linda was only 6 years old. She then tells of her mother's mistress, who was raised and loved with her mother. The mistress took great care of Linda until her death when Linda was about 12. At this time, everything changed for Linda. Instead of freeing her, as had been expected, her mistress left Linda to her sister's daughter, and thus began Linda's true education into what it really meant to be a slave.

In chapters three and four we begin getting the detailed depictions of violence and degradation suffered by other members of her family, and a hint of what is to come for Linda herself. Even though Linda is upset with her former mistress for putting her in this dire situation, she is still thankful that the woman taught her to read, write and spell. She is also a bit scornful for her biblical teaching, however, because she doesn't feel that the mistress followed the scripture of treating their neighbor and they'd want to be treated, and made the comment that apparently her mistress did not consider her a neighbor. You can hear the bitterness as it begins to creep into Linda's life.

Much is said about how some slave owners would allow the slaves to make themselves money, even though it was against the law for a slave to "own" anything. Linda's grandmother is cheated out of money that her slave owner had "borrowed" to buy a candlelabra that she never was paid back for. It was $300.00, which was a small fortune in those days. This establishes two of the most commonly used motifs in slave narrative: the exchange of money and the gross deception of slave owners to their slaves.

Linda relays a story about her grandmother being freed and then recaptured and sold again. There is also much talk of saving money to buy freedom for the slaves themselves and other family members. Linda's grandmother represents another motiff common in slave narratives....that of family loyalty and a mother's love for her children.

In the first four chapters, we are already seeing the developement of a few underlying themes. The groundwork is being laid for the theme "Knowledge can be the key to both power and freedom." Linda sets the tone for this in her Preface, and then lays the first stones on the path by mentioning her mistress teaching her to read and write.

Another theme being developed is evident when Linda talks of her first mistress, and then of Dr. Flint's wife. It is the theme "Sometimes people don't recognize it when their moral choices conflict with their religious or philosophical ideas." This is alluded to when she talks about Mrs. Flint being so delicate that she cannot do any work, but she is fully capable of seeing someone beat until they bleed. Linda recounts the fact of Mrs. Flint spitting in each container if Sunday dinner was late so that the slaves wouldn't have anything to eat. Even her old mistress doesn't escape this when Linda says that she didn't consider Linda "her neighbor" because she didn't free Linda at her death.

The story thus far can be compared to "The Life and Adventures of Venture: Chapter III" that we read from the text. Unlike "Linda," Venture was not born into slavery. He actually had childhood memories of when he was not a slave. "Linda" only has memories of "not knowing" that she was a slave. We also really began to read about Venture after he obtained his freedom. So far, a big part of "Linda's" story concerns her journey to obtain freedom. Also, Venture originally wrote the Preface himself. However, he did have the Preface writer identified as Elisha Niles, and American revolution soldier and school teacher when it was reprinted in 1897.

The time of the writings is also very different. Smith lived between 1729-1805, where as Jacobs lived between 1813-1897. Attitudes towards slavery were a bit different as were the laws concerning slavery. Jacob's lived as the slavery issue was heating up and the first signs of Civil War were beginning to become very apparent. The longer slavery went on, the more evident the abuses of slavery.