Thursday, October 6, 2011

jacobs

This piece of writing, can be summarized as being about the fact based story, of what Ms. Harriet Jacobs had to endure as an slave. The only difference, is that she goes by the name of Linda in the story, instead of using her real name. In this story, Linda/Harriet tells the account of how she had to endure beatings, by the hands of an white man named Dr. Flint.
 He would commit such atrocities as shoving her down the stairs, or cutting off her long hair, when he became angered by her. Harriet/Jacobs also tells how she had to learn how to read and write secretly, because this was forbidden by slaves during this era in time.
 One connection that I had to this piece of writing, is that I read this particular story, as part of an online English course, that I took online during the summer months. The name of the course, was titled "Literature by Women"; and it covered different genres of writings, by women of all different nationalities.
I found this story to be very heartfelt and thought-provoking. It made me put myself in the shoes of an black woman, that was an slave many years ago. Her words were so poignant, that they at times was hard to read. It angered me that an woman would have to endure soo much, just because of her nationality and the time period, that she was born.
I feel as though if anyone wants to read an thought-provoking story, they should read the words of Jacobs. This story most likely offers an true account of what many slaves over the centuries, probably had to endure at the hands of an master and/or oversear. This woman and many others, did not have anyone standing up for them. They probably had to endure countless tragedies, like having their children taken from them and/or being raped by an white man. This is what probably led to many mulatto children being born in the south.

1 comment:

  1. I just want to add, what I learned about this story. During class, it was discussed how this story can be applied to current events. How in today's society, you still see men expecting women to be submissive. That just because slavery is not allowed in America, does not mean that feelings of "superiority" and "domination" have ceased to exist.

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