The experiences Jacobs endured in her memoir, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, attest that the adversities for slave women were very significant in many different instances. Jacobs' motive for her story was political. She illustrates her pain and suffering to make it clear to people - mainly northerners and, more specifically northern white women - how slavery really is.
Jacobs uses rich detail and outspoken language, except when discussing her own sexual history, to completely portray what it is like to be a slave. In the beginning of chapter five, The Trials of Girlhood, where it reads, "But now I entered on my 15th year But where could I turn for protection (Jacobs 371), Jacobs reveals that she has been tormented by her master, Dr. Flint, in a psychological way. This intimate verbal harassment, especially from a middle-aged married man, was often a taboo subject in those days. Jacobs uses veiling language so as not to upset her intended audience.
At the beginning of the aforementioned passage, Jacobs says, "But now I entered on my 15th year, a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl." In this sentence she speaks for both herself and all slave girls alike. This time of supposed happiness, freedom, growth, and innocence for young women is robbed in the life of a slave. She makes it clear that her disillusionment with the world starts at a young age. By using the words "sad epoch" Jacobs sets a depressing tone for the reader, which strengthens her overlying aim to show how dark the life of a slave can be.
In the same passage Jacobs uses "peopled " to describe how Dr. Flint put unclean thoughts in her head. This is a unique word to use because she could have used a more common word, such as "filled. " Throughout her story she chooses to use words that one would not expect a former slave to use. This proves she is a well-educated person, and that adds validity to the points she makes within her narrative.
