Life of a Slave Girl: a Brief Criticism of The Incident in This Book by Harriet Ann Jacobs

In this passage by Harriet Jacobs, located in the slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the character Linda directs her thoughts to the reader in response to comments made by an ignorant slave owner. The man goes on about how he knows what slaves want and how hard it is to be maltreated and thought of as less due to one's own physical features. In a time of oppression and dehumanization achieved by white people through slavery, often time slave owners would speak for their slaves to assert their power even more so.

Because this passage promptly follows a moment in which a slaveholder does exactly that, Jacobs makes it seem as though Linda is confident enough in what she has to say that at that moment in time, that she is the one in a position of power and not the white male. This makes the passage picked incredibly powerful because not only does Jacobs make it clear why the slave owner does not understand the perspective of slaves, but gives numerous glimpses into what it truly means to be a slave. She is able to recount the horrors she has witnessed and stuns the reader through recalling gruesome and awful accounts of dehumanization. Through the initial line “what does he know,” (Jacobs 64), the italicizing of “he” strips the slave owner of credibility, making it clear to the reader that Linda knows more about being a slave than he does. He has no reason to be speaking on behalf of slaves when in reality, he will never face even half of the terrible things many Africans witnessed. Jacobs also questions the reader using repetition, further establishing her role as the dominant voice. The questions that are asked give glimpses of the horror many slaves had to face during the years of forced oppression and further give the reader feeling that Jacobs is sure of what she is saying and therefore, the dominant voice in this situation.

Through this passage, Jacobs is able to portray the strong will that Linda possesses and displays throughout the entire story. She shows the perspective of a slave who has suffered while also alluding to the fact that even though she has suffered, she’s survived through different a number of different coping mechanisms.