Nicholas Kristof’s article, “Not Quite a Teen, Yet Sold for Sex.” and Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl are similar in that both girls are desperate to escape.
The young girl in the article is not a slave and once out of the home of the man who kidnaps her will be free and legally protected. The slave girl in Harriet Jacobs cannot escape her owner. Escaping her slave master would cause more punishment for her. Unlike the girl from the article, the slave girl is not protected by law, her only hope is to have someone purchase her that will allow her to live her life as she pleases without having to serve someone else.
Melissa, it is very perceptive of you to note that the girl in Kristof’s article is better off than Harriet Jacobs because she does have legal protection if she manages to escape from her captor. Jacobs has no rights, no matter where she goes: the whole society is her captor.