How does one imagine the life of slave girl? Of course it's not going to be rainbows and butterflies but it's hard to imagine how it really was. Harriet Jacobs gives insight through Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Jacobs uses the pen name "Linda " and states that at first she had a good mistress that taught her how to read, write, and sew but when her mistress dies and she's given to another her life takes a turn. She faces many hardships but they make her stronger. Throughout the book Jacobs touches upon many topics like religion, the differences between the North and the South, and feminism. .
To begin with one of the most controversial topic touched upon throughout the book was religion. Jacobs described how religion was used by slave owners to control their slaves. Jacobs wrote,"They seem to satisfy their consciences with the doctrine that God created the Africans to be slaves. " (69) The slave owners are trying to make themselves feel better,"satisfy their consciences", about treating other humans like animals that you can keep as a pet by using religion and that is not okay. How can religion something that is supposed to bring light to a person's life justify the dark deeds done. Slave owners know what they're doing is wrong and that's why they need to try and justify it. In another instance Mr. Pike says, "If you disobey your earthly master, you offend your heavenly Master. " (107) This is ridiculous; it's comparing slave owners to God in a way. Telling slaves that their owners are the equivalent to God on land and therefore getting them to obey them without question. Slaves were taught to praise God and obey and if the people that taught them that told them they were the equivalent on land it's just a ruse to keep them under their thumb. .
Another topic in the book was the difference between the North and South. Although the North and South are portrayed as completely different during the civil war, Jacobs throws that implication out the window.
