Summary Linda compares the slaves’ New Year’s Day with the New Year’s festivities enjoyed by whites. She notes that, for slaves, January 1 was hiring day. Thus, slaves were expected to leave their families behind and leave the plantation with their new masters on January 2. To illustrate the anguish […]
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Summary Dr. Flint, a neighborhood physician, had married the sister of Linda Brent’s mistress, and Linda is now the property of their young daughter. The family also purchased her brother, William. The chapter opens with an incident concerning William, who is severely reprimanded by his father for answering to his […]
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Summary As the narrative opens, Linda Brent recounts the “unusually fortunate circumstances” of her early childhood before she realized she was a slave. Linda’s father is a carpenter who — because of his extraordinary skills — is granted many of the privileges of a free man. The chapter introduces Linda’s […]
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Linda Brent Pseudonym for the author, Harriet Ann Jacobs. Linda is born a slave in North Carolina. She eventually escapes to the North after spending 27 years in slavery, including the seven years she spends hiding in her grandmother’s attic. Aunt Martha Pseudonym for Molly Horniblow, Jacobs’ grandmother. Aunt Martha, […]
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Authenticity of the Novel “Reader it is not to awaken sympathy for myself that I am telling you truthfully what I suffered. I do it to kindle a flame of compassion in your hearts for my sisters who are still in bondage.” With these words, Harriet Jacobs, speaking through her […]
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