Book critique and analysis

Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiographical narrative recounting the author's journey to freedom and the impact she made on the abolitionist movement. She has no formal credentials for writing the narrative and in fact was assisted in compiling it by the abolitionist activist Lydia Maria Child. However, her personal experiences are all Jacobs needs to bring her story to the world: a heart-wrenching series of anecdotes that illustrate the horrors of slavery. Her credibility lies mainly in there having been accurate records of her life, and the entire book is comprised of her stories and personal reflection on them.

However, Jacobs wrote the book under a pseudonym, Linda Brent. It is possible that many of the details of the book have been embellished because Jacobs gave herself leeway in using a pen name. Regardless of whether the narrative is slightly tweaked for greater impact or not, the book remains one of the most captivating and compelling autobiographical slave narratives. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was published in 1861. Incidents recounted occurred since Jacobs' (Brent's) childhood in the early 1800s and through the middle of that century.

The thesis of Jacobs' narrative is explicit from the first few words: slavery is inhumane and must be abolished. She supports her thesis by describing the events of her own life, from her relatively cheerful childhood, through the horrific years she spent under the charge of the Norcoms after 1825, her motherhood, her escape, her hiding out in her grandmother's attic for seven years, and finally her freedom and work for the mainstream abolition movement. Interspersed with her narrative is occasional analysis and social commentary. Jacobs tells the story for one reason mainly: to bolster the abolitionist movement by stirring her readers. She ultimately hopes that the United States will follow suit of Western Europe, and that the South will follow the example of the North and abolish the peculiar institution.

Sources Jacobs depends on include mostly the contents of her own memory: a primary but potentially fallible source. Yet Jacobs' argument is nothing but believable for many reasons. For example, most of the events described in the book can and have been verified by scholars who re-discovered the narrative in the 1980s, as indicated in the introduction to Jacob's Incidents in the Norton Anthology of American Literature. Furthermore, any argument against slavery is a clear one, especially so long after the Civil War. However, when Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was published in 1861, slavery still existed and most Southerners felt strongly enough in favor of the institution to fight for it. Therefore, Jacobs' argument can be analyzed in terms of the impact it might have had on 19th century readers. Most readers in the 21st century will start reading Jacobs' narrative already agreeing with her central argument. The book remains an essential piece of American historical literature.

The major themes explored in Incidents include physical and sexual abuse of female slaves. Unlike narratives told by former male slaves, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl tells exactly that: what slavery is like from a young woman's perspective. When Jacobs was transferred to the Norcoms, the reality of slavery suddenly hit the author hard because prior to her being sold to them she enjoyed a relatively happy childhood in a secure home environment. Dr. Norcom frequently made advances on Jacobs and she was forced to find solace in the arms of a white lawyer to help resist Dr. Norcom. She had two children by the lawyer, and was separated from them. Being separated from her parents and then from her children is a poignant dimension of slavery that Jacobs explicates in the narrative. Moreover, Jacobs describes the insidious psychological abuse that many domestic servants endured.

Jacobs also explains what might be new information for many readers: the different types of slavery and different ways slavery manifested. Not all slaves were field workers and not all slaves were treated poorly. Some, like her parents at the outset of the novel, were permitted to enjoy their home and family life. Others, like the narrator's grandmother, were emancipated. More importantly to the narrative, however, the Norcom family proves to be the quintessential slave owners: cruel and abusive. Slaves are treated as sub-humans and can suffer from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse without any protection from the law. In fact, Jacobs also explores an important historical corollary to slavery: the Fugitive Slave Law. Under that law, any escaped slaves would be returned to their owners and most likely would suffer severe abuse for their having ran away. Because the law was in place and Jacobs could not risk her life, she hid in her grandmother's attic for seven years. In some ways that period was like imprisonment but her self-imposed confinement was still a taste of freedom.