Linda Brent's resistance and pursuit of freedom in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

¶ … white Southerner during the Black Slavery era of America's history, I may have conflicting opinions with that of my fellow Southerners in voicing out my opinion about Linda Brent's actions in the novel by Harriet Ann Jacobs entitled, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." Two important events in her life are the primary reasons why I will approve of Linda's decision to be granted respect as a woman and as a black American. The first incident is Linda's resistance to her employer, Dr. Flint to engage in a sexual relationship with him. In the novel, at a young age in her teens, Linda was already seduced and 'guarded' by Dr. Flint as she blossomed into a young, beautiful woman. It is prevalent during their time in their society for white men to have black American mistresses, oftentimes their own slaves. It is remarkable that with great courage, Linda was able to resist the lures and even threats that Dr. Flint had offered and given her, so that she'll agree to be his mistress. This example shows the bravery of Linda Brent, and as a woman, and even a black American under the kind of society she lives in, Linda is a good example of a black American woman who was able to assert her rights despite the conflict between her and her employer. The next event in her life that I think makes her a remarkable woman (even on my own standards as a Southerner), is the motivation that she had to gain her and her children's freedom from slavery. After seven years of struggling against the Southerners' society, the implementation of the Fugitive Slave Law, and living her life without her children while in hiding, Linda eventually gains freedom and her children and found all of this happiness in the North, wherein even though there are still racial differences/prejudice, treatment of black Americans are better than the conditions of slaves in the South. The fact that the Northerners can treat the Black Americans with goodness is apparently a call for us Southerners to do the same; what could we lose if we try to treat the same goodness to our own slaves?