By:
The Examinors
aka
Quasia Stokes
Kimmi Putman
Dylan Haines
The scholarly sources that we used expressed a lot of interesting things about Harriet Jacobs that opened our minds up to others
opinions on
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. From reading what others
had to say about her narrative, we were able to understand connections
drawn between Jacobs’s religion and the important woman in her life, how
Jacobs’s narrative displays the problem of
violence towards black woman, and how Jacob’s novel is the result of
multiple experiences that were going on during her time.
Harriet
Jacobs’s religious beliefs and the important woman in her life allowed
her to be able to handle a lot of the sexual
abuse that she endured. She wanted to remain pure for spiritual beliefs
and also for her grandmother and mother and very first mistress, but
she didn’t. When Harriet decided to tell her grandmother that she was
pregnant her grandmother was very angry with
her: “I had rather see you dead than to see you as you now are” (292). She did not want to disappoint any of them, but that is what it
came down to when she decided to have children and lose her purity. This
is a reason why her purity was so important
to her. Ann Taves argues: “I would suggest that the connection Jacobs
make between sexual purity and spirituality, a connection which lies at
the heart of her narrative and indeed was prevalent among Christians of
her era, was grounded in her relationships
with her mother, her grandmother, and her first mistress” (61).
According to Taves, because the important women in her life were
Christians and lived their lives in a good way, that’s a reason why
being pure was so important to her. This scholarly review was
helpful in our understanding of a possible reason why purity and
religion was so important to Jacobs. She did not want to let any of them
down. Religion was something that they all believed in and even though
they lived during a bad time, find the good in
things.
Jacobs’s
narrative reveals the continuation of sin towards woman of color. From
reading the narrative, one is aware that Jacobs
is a mulatto. This helps the readers better understand Jacobs when she
describes the horrible sexual encounters that she was faced with.
Nudelman states: “Abolitionist depictions of the tragic mulatta provide
the paradigmatic instance of how the abused body
reveals collective sin. The tragic mulatta is both the sign and the
site of sexual abuse: the color of her skin makes visible the fact that
her forefathers raped her foremothers, and she is imagined as the object
of the white man’s continued violence” (947).
Being a slave, one was meant to have a horrible life style. Black men
were being raped all the time by their white masters. This was a process
that happened over and over again. This was an act of violence that was
well known to slaves and it results in mulatta
children. Those that were woman, like Jacobs, would soon be exposed to
sexual abuse.
Jacobs’s
narrative reveals some of the horrible suffering that slaves were
undergoing simply because of the era that they were
in. Nudelman argues: “Abolitionist narration employs the revelation of
slave suffering as a means of exposing the nation’s sins and affecting
corporate reform. Abolitionists, associating secrecy with corruption and
revelation with progress, frequently describe
their political efforts as attempts to bring to light what has been
generating a sinful nation” (947). A lot of slaves had such horrible
lives because of the nation as a whole. Things such as money and control
were of the main things that made the sin of slavery
so bad and so long.
Reading
what others had to say about Harriet Jacobs’s narrative was helpful to
my group because we got a better understanding
as to the type of person she was based off what others believed. Her
strong religion and reasoning for wanting to remain pure had a lot to do
with how close she was with the woman in her life. We also were able to
read how because of the time ear in which
Jacobs was born, how it had a lot to do with the setting of her book
and why things happened the way they did.
Harriet Jacobs had a very strong story to tell but did not
know how to write it herself. She was born a slave therefore was not able to
learn to write until she had escaped to her freedom. Jacobs wanted to tell her story of trying to
stay pure, how she relates to the cult of true womanhood, and the discrimination
between white and black women. Revealing her story was a way to gain sympathy
among whites and to gain their support to go against slavery.
Throughout
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs
wavers between giving her audience a more stylized language that gives off a
sentimental and domestic vibe for the antebellum period and giving a more
direct and extremely descriptive style of writing. She wanted to connect with
her audience by pleading for pity and having mercy, describing herself as a
victim. She tries to apologize for her sexual demise and claims she shares the
same sexual values as her audience; purity. When writing her story, the sexual
abuse of a slave woman was the main to show how much of her innocence she was
trying to salvage when staying pure. This gives off a more sexual purity and
dismissiveness of domestic values that every white woman is looking for. Having
something in common with them, Jacobs can use sexual and maternal suffering as
her main point to gain the reader’s attention.
When
looking further into her story you can tell she is relating her situation to
the “Cult of True Womanhood.” Hazel Carby argues “Jacobs must contend with
conventions which, as they promote female chastity and submissiveness, deny her
experience, her femininity, and, by extension, her humanity… Jacobs is able to
condemn and modify the models of female character and behavior that insistently
marginalize her.” (550). By modifying and accepting these changes, she is able
to find a way to escape her master’s sexual abuse and become more acceptable in
the eyes of the white society.
There
was a complex relationship between black and white women. Jacobs talks about
how women are trying to become more and more independent from their male
suitors. White men exert control over their wives as well as their black slave
women. Shahila explains that black women are considered to be stereotyped in
promiscuous ways while white woman are seen to be pure and chaste. Due to this
stereotype, black women suffer from moral corruption. The concept of true womanhood would idealized
the perfect white woman, but Jacobs exposes what is really going on throughout
the story and showing that not all white women are pure (2).
Harriet
Jacobs wanted to open the eyes of her society to see what was really going on.
She want to show that not all white women fit into the characteristics of True
Womanhood and how not everyone is pure.
Since she was a former slave, makes her story that much more
interesting. She was able to see things from a different perspective and really
open the eyes of white men and women to see what is really going on.
Harriet Jacobs is one of the most profound writers of the
antebellum era. Her writing has stood the test of time and is still regarded as
one of the most in-depth analysis of slavery in the United States. In her
writing Harriet Jacobs is able to expresses herself by portraying her beliefs
and virtues. In her personal narrative The Incidents in the Life of a Slave
Girl, she gives a daunting account of her life as a slave woman. In her
expressive manner Jacobs appeals to a large audience, an audience not defined
by color or race but one of common values and interests. Jacobs’s style of
writing can still hold water for many of the problems found in the world today.
Although, a large amount of time has passed
since Harriet Jacobs wrote her life story down in her personal narrative, many
of those defining factors of her writing are still valued today. Harriet Jacobs
writes in a way that forces the reader to be impartial about race. Her audience
looks past the color of her skin and the view the true injustices within her
life. This is a unique skill which would still be practical today. In many
situations Americans are unable to look past color of skin and racial identity.
For example, in the controversial trial case involving the death of 17 year old
Trayvon Martin most of America was split in their views on which person was the
culprit and which the victim.
The majority of American views were based on
personal beliefs and values. Many had a strong opinion before the facts
regarding the case were even released. Black Americans believed that Trayvon
was the victim of prejudice and therefore was violently murdered in cold blood.
Other Americans believed that Mr. Martin, being a young black male out after
midnight hours, was just another delinquent up to no good. If Harriet Jacobs
were alive today she and a select few would be able to portray the case
properly. Her writing would examine the facts of the situation she would be
able to look past the race of the people involved and portray what is really
going on.
This problem is one that has been evident in
American history for some time. Racial views or tensions cause preconceived
notions of right and wrong. Harriet Jacobs had to overcome this obstacle in her
writing. She was born in an era were some viewed educated black Americans as an
insult to society. However, Jacobs is able to grab the attention of her large
audience not by focusing on the aspects of race but by appealing to American
views on society and religion. When reading her works the audience often finds
themselves forgetting about her heritage and focusing on the problems in which
she faces. The readers find themselves dwelling on a form of sentimentalism
that has you wishing the best outcomes upon Jacobs.
Some individuals in this day and age are just as
blinded by race and heritage as people were in the antebellum south. It takes a
unique understanding from those individuals like Harriet Jacobs to shed some
real light on a situation. These kinds of feelings towards race have been a
part of the American society since before the days of slavery. By reading the
works of Harriet Jacobs many people are enlightened by her unique portrayals.
This unique way in which Harriet Jacobs is able to portray events and obstacles
absent of impartial judgment has stood with the test of time.Works Cited
Berlant , Lauren.
“The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Harriet Jacobs, Frances Harper,
Anita Hill.” American Literature,(1993) Vol. 65, No. 3, pp.549-574. Press.
Handman, Wynn. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. By
Harriet Jacobs.” Youtube. Youtube, 10
Dec. 2012. Web. 24, Nov. 2013.
Harriet Jacobs,
Marker A-72 – North Carolina Historical Markers. 2010. Groundspeak, Inc. JPEG file.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.The
Norton Anthology of American Literature. Gen. ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Nellie
Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2003.279-315.print.
Nudelman, Franny
. “Harriet Jacobs and the Sentimental Politics of Female Suffering.” The John
Hopkins University Press, Vol.
59, No. 4. pp. 939-964. Print
Photograph of
Harriet Jacobs Book. N.d. Jaybird’s Jottings.
JPEG file.
Photograph of
Harriet Jacobs. N.d. Lapham’s Quarterly. JPEG file.
Taves, Ann.
“Spiritual Purity and Sexual Shame: Religious Themes in the Writings of Harriet
Jacobs.” Church History. 56 (1987)
59-72. Print.
Whitsitt, Novian. "Harriet Jacobs' Humanity and Sexuality." African Studies: News and Events. Luther College, 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Zafar, Shahila. “The
Images of White Womanhood in Incidents in
the Life of a Slave Girl.” Students in Literature and Language, Vol. 1, No. 8. Pp. 01-04. Print.
