Journal #6: The Life of a Female Slave

     In reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I have never felt so sorry for women of slavery before.  Growing up and learning about slavery, my classes never really discussed how women specifically were treated.  However, through reading Jacobs’s memoir, it is clear that life back then for women was no cake walk.  Along from still having no rights, slave women were considered absolutely nothing, basically not even a human being.  Jacobs’s life was affected substantially by being in the lowest of “the lows” in social class and, because of her predicament, her successes were yielded but her failures were many.

     In the beginning of her memoir, Jacobs has a very different view of America than most people.  She describes America as the land of “stripes and scars” (768), because she had no freedom and was restricted and controlled by her slave master.  She was in a constant state of prison and restriction, a life filled with the constant fear of the unknown for what would come next.  She never had feelings of peace or comfort for substantial time periods because her mother was taken from her as a very young child and her caretaker passed along shortly after.  

     Under the imprisonment of her male master, Jacobs never had choices.  As a female slave, her successes were limited, and as she quotes, “...a slave, being property, can hold no property” (770).  During her time with her master, she fell in love with a free black man.  However, because of her status and the fact that she was not free, her master forbade her from ever seeing the man again.  And, as Jacobs states, even if they were to get married, “...the husband of a slave has no power to protect her” (772).  Jacobs would have never been able to enjoy the happiness of a marriage because of her social class.  In her master’s eyes, she was completely his and no one else’s, keeping her from enjoying God’s greatest gift: love.  

     In the middle of her story, Jacobs comes to a point where she warns the reader that this is a part of her life that she feels most ashamed about.  However, she feels, “...that the slave woman ought not to be judged by the same standard as others” (778).  Having a child unwed with a significantly older white male was something she was deeply ashamed of.  Although she felt bad about her choices, she wanted to do this to have the hope that the father of her children would buy her, so she could at least never worry about being near her evil master again.  Sadly, though, that never happened, and instead she had, “...no security for her children” (778), a mother’s biggest fear.

     Near the middle of her life, Jacobs was able to escape slavery.  However, she had to go through tumultuous crossroads to get to that point.  Even with the success of having two healthy children, she felt it was still a failure because of the position she put herself in.  Jacobs clearly states what life was like for a female slave and the state of living she was restricted to.  Through her memoir, I have so much sympathy for female slaves and am thrilled that Jacobs was finally able to escape it.

Journal 5: A Native American Theme

  Discrimination.  Prejudice.  No human rights.  Are these words or pictures you think of when you hear about Native Americans in the 1800s?  This is what comes to my mind, Lydia Sigourney’s and William Apess’ as well.  These two writers in the mid-1800s influenced thousands of Americans with their views in their work about the unfair treatment in America towards Native Americans.  Although written at different times and by different gendered authors, “Indian Names” and “An Indian’s Looking-Glass For the White Man” tells readers explicitly about the unfair treatment of Native Americans and the drastic need of social reform in America. 

     William Apess was a Methodist minister.  A Native American himself but not raised in his own culture, Apess was still deeply interested in Native American history (639).  Stricken by the unfair treatment towards Native Americans by whites, Apess wrote “An Indian’s Looking-Glass For the White Man” to convict whites of mistreating God’s beloved people.  In the beginning of the story, Apess convicts whites, saying that God shows no favor to outward appearances (640), so why should white people?  Because of the way he incorporates God’s book, the Bible, Apess has an easy way of convicting whites.  He does this because it is God’s sovereign law, commands that are true and apply precisely to the issue Apess writes about.  For example, Apess includes one verse (1 John 3:15) that applies specifically to this situation: “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”  Apess produces strong feelings from the reader such as conviction and guiltiness.  It would not be surprising if more social reform activists united together in an effort to promote Native American equality after this story was published.

     Lydia Sigourney traveled a different road in an effort to raise support for Native American equality.  In her poem, “Indian Names”, she mentions different places across America that are named after Indian tribes to prove to Americans that Indians themselves are American.  By saying, “And Rappahannock sweetly sleeps on green Virginia’s breast” (lines 15-16), she successfully produces a feeling of motherhood, gentleness and affection towards Native Americans by connecting an Indian name to the adverb-verb combination of “sweetly sleeps”.  Through her diction, Sigourney reveals a different side of Indians to Americans and calls Americans to support equality for these mistreated people.

Journal #3-Question 1

Reading Irving’s “The Wife”, I found that the author portrayed women as little mice that followed their husbands wherever they took them in life.  Although we hear some stories about abusive husbands and obedient wives, this story about man and wife was just the opposite.  This couple was deeply in love, so smitten with each other that it could make another sick.  

When Leslie found out that he had no more money, the first thing he thought of was his wife, Mary.  He was deeply terrified that she would leave him because she would not want to live a different lifestyle.  Leslie believed that Mary loved him, but loved him especially for his money, therefore portraying women as dependent on men for their financial stability and loving nothing in the world more than money.  However, once Leslie told Mary about his situation, the first thing she did was hug him, proving Irving’s portrayal of women wrong.  Mary was ready to start this new beginning of their life together.  In fact, “...she was only anxious to conform to their altered fortunes (528).”  

It seems that Irving believes that women could not care less about how much money their husbands make.  And to a certain extent for some people, that is true.  However, for others, that is not the case.  Irving portrayed Mary as a supporter and huge lover of her husband no matter what was to happen.  That was acceptable then, but these days, not much of that is seen anymore.