—Mazidul Ahmed
Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl provides the most introspective view of the cruelty and harsh lifestyle a female woman of color had to endure because of the slavery system in the United States. This autobiography can be easily classified as a “great work” because of its significance and influence in society. The historical horrors that Jacobs describes, with great detail, in her narrative serve to demonstrate a period of time people should never return to. Jacobs describes her early hardships as a slave- an African girl who was “born a slave”- during the first ten chapters of the narrative. The narrative deeply struck my emotions and invoked an anger within myself; Jacob’s experience as a slave girl is one that you wouldn’t wish upon your greatest enemy. The reasoning and ideologies that slaveholders represented were some of the most corrupt. To elaborate, a lot of their ideologies were meaningless because of the hypocrisy behind it all. For instance, Mrs. Flint “was a member of the church; but partaking of the Lord’s supper did not seem to put her in a Christian frame of mind.” She would spit in pans and dishes so the starving slaves could not eat, but still maintained a pious faith. In her mind, she probably thought she was a woman of God and followed a just Christian faith. Behind the scenes, however, she showed no mercy to her slaves and could not justify the possibility that they might be human. Throughout the early chapters, we also see Harriet’s hope in humanity wither away. This was especially true after the loss of her father: “My heart rebelled against God, who had taken from me mother, father, mistress, and friend.” While Harriet’s grandmother was a beacon of hope, Harriet seemingly could no longer grasp onto the ideas of hopes and dreams. The grandmother’s hope for a better life in which she could be able to live with her children and grandchildren was truly admirable. It was astounding to see an individual who had experienced so much hate and cruelty in their lifetime to still shine bright and hold onto the belief that better times are coming. Although the grandmother had served her life as a hardworking slave that constantly proved her worth, society continuously belittled her to be a piece of property. Mr. Flint attempted to sell the grandmother on auction, but it was so relieving to see some sort of justice being served when people had acclaimed that it was so shameful that a charitable and honest person like her was up for auction.
