As discussed in class, Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl employs a highly emotional
and distressed diction reminiscent of 19th century sentimental
novels. Chapter 10 highlights this apologetic approach when the narrator pleas
for her “virtuous readers” to “pity [her], and pardon [her]…” sexual immorality
(778). Using words such as “desperate” and “wretched” in articulating the humiliation
she feels after her sexual pursuit, Jacobs paints a vivid picture of a
tormented girl who becomes “…reckless in [her] despair” to escape sexual
advances from her master (777). As Jacobs addressed in the preface, her purpose
in writing the narrative was to “arouse the women of the North to a realizing
sense of the condition of two million women in the South” who were subject to gross
sexual victimization by their white masters (769). Jacob’s heartbreaking memoir
calls for a denunciation of this sick moral corruption that robs slave girls of
their female virtue and self-respect. Linda’s self-condemnation and deep
remorse over her illicit relationship with Mr. Sands helps her character gain
sympathy from Northern women, while her defiant perseverance garners praise and
hope in her sisters of the South. By creating a female hero that appeals to a
wide female readership, Jacobs political message resonates with women from all
walks of life to take action against a dehumanizing injustice.
“…the condition of a slave confuses all principles of
morality, and, in fact, renders the practice of them impossible”
- Harriet Jacobs
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