The Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs Essay Example

place in 1842 after Norcom tried to threaten Harriet that he would sell her children if she didn’t agree to his sexual demands (Ernest 370-371).

Harriet has several friends both black and whites as we see that when Norcom sends her to the plantations that are several miles from Edenton, her birth place, she escapes and hides in the homes of these friend. Post was another close friend of the Jacobs as he even went further to encourages Harriet to publish a book about her stories, which she later did ten years later after her slavery period. Julia Wilbur became friends with Harriet Jacobs during the civil war where she worked as a relief worker (Ernest 371-372). William, Harriet’s younger brother was also a close friend since childhood as she was an affectionate and bright child since childhood. She was also closely connected to her maternal grandmother who she regarded as a very remarkable woman almost in all life aspects.

In her place of birth, Edenton, Harriet lived a very wonderful life where she was under the constant care of her mother till the age of six when her mother passed and left her under the care of her mistress who was also a wonderful woman and treated her as one of her own. Life took another turn especially after the death of the mistress and most of the whites who surrounded her just took her as a mere slave only who was there to give them sexual favors. (Ernest 372-373). After her escape from the plantations where the blacks were harshly treated by the whites life was even unbearable and Norcom sold her brother to a

slave merchant, Sawyer.

Encounters with Dr. Flint

Harriet has very serious encounters with doctor Flint, her master who demands sexual favors from her. During those times, enslaved women were mostly raped but Harriet plays it bravely to deal with the situation and befriends a certain young and handsome lawyer who they later have two children with. She does this so as to evade the sexual demands of her master but this angers her master more and makes her life harder than before (Ernest 367-369). Many people would think that Harriet was a loose woman who just gave herself to the white lawyer but if you keenly look into this she is principled and a woman with good morals. As she explains in her book, she would rather choose someone that she can develop feelings for than be sexually harassed by her master.

Slavery was harder and harsh especially for the women as they faced so many challenges that included being sexually harassed by their masters and receiving very harsh treatments from their mistresses (Ernest 370) . These women were in most cases considered as their masters properties and had no rights and privileges to anything especially the outdoor activities. They lived in much fears not knowing what would happen to their families or husbands in the case of those who were married. Additionally, women enslaved had no right to education, this was by law. In most cases they were forced to abandon their cultural beliefs and even their native languages. Women slaves who were not in the household chores were forced to work in the fields especially in the plantations where they did physical works all day.

Harriet having

been born to slavery was not the type to easily give up without a fight and therefore she did all she could to resist her masters sexual demands. She even got pregnant with the young lawyer as a way to resist the demands of her master since pregnant women were not even attractive and therefore the masters would not want any sexual encounters with them. During this period, she was trying harder each day to get a way in which she could escape from the slavery. Nat Turner was an African-American who was born into slavery in Virginia (Ernest 372). Several factors and how the slaves were being treated are what drove him to overthrow the slavery thing. He hated the fact that he would for very long hours for his master and was not allowed to have anything of his own even a wife. He was sold several times to different masters and made several observations about these masters, they all treated the slaves harshly and Nat was never happy with this.

When he reached his twenties, Turner was a spiritual leader among his fellow slaves and this made the slaves including his mother and mother believe that he was chosen by God to save them. In the early 1820s, Turner had several visions with God commanding him to get prepared to do greater things that will concern eradication of the evil deeds especially those that were being done to the poor slaves (Ernest 371). On august 22, 1831, Nat Turner made a group with six others and they were to move across all plantations from one to the other killing all the white people

(Ernest 372). This courage and bravery moved Harriet Jacobs and was very happy to know that she was not alone in the fight against slavery.

Turner’s moves inspired more and more slaves across the plantations and they more and more whites until the whites gave up and freed them (Ernest 372). Turner murdered his own master and family as a way to show the other slaves that slavery was evil and had to be stopped by all means. The white militia hunted down and killed all those who had participated in the rebellion except for Turner who had escaped and was by then hiding in the woods. He was later captured and after trials and conviction killed and his body skinned.

Having read Harriet Jacob’s book, it is clear that women experienced very tough situations both physical and emotional during the slavery period. This was because they had to think about their families and especially the small children they had left behind and what would become of them if they died in captivity. Sexual harassment was also a major challenge as their bosses would even rape them. This was of course one the major troubling aspects of being a slave and a woman in that case (Ernest 373). The book is based on a true story as it clearly gives the life of Harriet Jacobs in slavery and how she courageously tried to fight the challenges that she faced after the death of her mother and the mistress. I would highly recommend the book as it is very motivating on how Harriet endured the hard realities of slavery.

Reference

• Ernest, John. "(Re) Mediated History: 12 Years a Slave."
  

American Literary History 26.2 (2014): 367-373.