Summary Linda continues to hide in the garret, but when she learns that Mr. Sands has been elected to Congress and will leave for Washington shortly, she risks revealing her hiding place to beg him to free her children before he leaves. He agrees to do what he can. After […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 23-25Summary and Analysis Chapter 22
Summary Linda describes the rituals and festivities surrounding Christmas, focusing on the Johnkannaus dancers. She discusses her grandmother’s two “special” guests — the town constable and the “free colored man” who tries to pass for white — who are invited specifically to convince them that Linda is nowhere near her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 22Summary and Analysis Chapter 21
Summary Linda hides out in her grandmother’s garret (attic), a dark, cramped crawl space infested with rats, mice, and “little red insects.” Able to see her children through a small opening in the wood but unable to communicate with them, she spends several miserable months suffering a myriad of ills, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 21Summary and Analysis Chapters 17-20
Summary Linda escapes from Mr. Flint’s plantation and heads for her grandmother’s house, where she persuades Sally, “a faithful friend,” to help her reach the home of another friend, who hides her in a closet. After hiding at her friend’s home for a week, Linda’s pursuers come into close vicinity. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 17-20Summary and Analysis Chapters 14-16
Summary Linda bears another child, a daughter, and despite Dr. Flint’s protests, both children are baptized. She names her son Benjamin, after her favorite uncle, and her daughter Ellen, after her father’s mistress. With two children to care for, Linda’s life is even more challenging, because Dr. Flint begins to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 14-16Summary and Analysis Chapters 12-13
Summary Linda describes the aftermath of the Nat Turner rebellion and denounces the moral conflict between the doctrine of the Christian church, which teaches love and brotherhood, and the brutal and amoral behavior of men and women who profess to be Christians. Analysis In these two chapters, Linda again digresses […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 12-13Summary and Analysis Chapters 10-11
Summary In Chapter 10, Linda resumes her story from Chapter 7 about her relationship with the free black carpenter. Having refused the man’s offer to buy Linda’s freedom, Dr. Flint adopts a new tactic to try to win Linda’s submission: He offers to build her a house and make her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 10-11Summary and Analysis Chapters 8-9
Summary In Chapters 8 and 9, Linda digresses from her personal narrative to address some broader issues concerning the conditions of slaves and the institution of slavery. In these two chapters, she focuses on the reasons that many slaves didn’t defy the slaveholders or attempt escape. In Chapter 8, Linda […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 8-9Summary and Analysis Chapter 7
Summary Linda falls in love with a free black man who wants to marry her and offers to buy her, but Dr. Flint refuses to sell her. Fearing for her lover’s life, Linda begs him to go to the Free States. Left alone, she is grateful for the company of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapters 5-6
Summary In Chapters 5 and 6, Linda, age 15, describes the daily torments she must endure in the Flint household. Pursued by the lecherous Dr. Flint, age 55, she invokes the jealous rage of Mrs. Flint who, instead of trying to protect Linda, sees her as responsible for arousing her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 5-6