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.
I think that partly why Linda cried at the grave site is because she realized that her mistress was a good woman at heart, who was a compassionate soul that taught Linda much. I think often if a master or mistress had a favored slave (such as Linda and her mistress) they would develop a friendship. So I think Linda was grieving over the loss of a friend.
ReplyDeleteWhen "Linda's" mistress dies, I think she had very mixed emotions. First of all, she was a young girl who'd been protected in some ways by her mistress. However, her mistress had promised Linda's mother some things, and everyone thought Linda would be freed at the mistress' death. Instead, she was given to a young niece. Linda remarks that though her mistress had taught her about treating her neighbor as she would be treated, she must not have considered Linda her neighbor. Otherwise, she would have freed her at her death. This begins the struggle that Linda continues to have with holding on to her belief in God, while wondering how those who called themselves His children could mistreat slaves and black people in general as they did. It was a dilemma that she continued to struggle with. How do you think she was able to hold on to beliefs taught to her by her mistress when "actions speak louder than words?"
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