Analyzing the Works of Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

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. 2^nd 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.