Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions)

Book Description

This autobiographical account by a former slave is one of the few extant narratives written by a woman. Written and published in 1861, it delivers a powerful portrayal of the brutality of slave life. Jacobs speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her eventual escape, in a tale of dauntless spirit and faith.

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Published For The Author in 1861.

Book Description

This is a real life account of enslavement, degradation and sexual exploitation; it is just as relevant today as it was first published in 1861, for slavery and racism still exist today under various guises, names, shapes and shades.

Customer Reviews:

fact or fiction.......2007-07-05

Some say this isnt true, after reading it seems that some is fiction. Especially extensive quotes years after the events from someone who coulnt read or write at the time the events occured and would have no way of recording them for future use. Somewhat drawn out. Keep looking there may be something better out there on the subject.

Excellent Book, and very moving........2007-04-01

This book is one of those books that have quite an affect on you. By the time I was done I had a bit more of knowledege of how slavery really was. Clearly I had no idea until I read it. I really wanted to cry so many times during the book.

Everyone should read this book.

Awe-Inspiring!.......2007-02-25

Once I completed reading this book from front-back cover, I wanted to re-read it. I was incredibly inspired and humbled by Ms. Jacob. Her hardships, and brutal struggles were unthinkable, let alone, unspeakable. How she gathered the mental strength to put her story to paper is yet another testament of her tenacity and raw power of strength, love, belief, and courage against her most ungodly circumstances. She helped me to confirm my vow to strengthen myself in the name of all my powerful brothers and sisters....past and present. I will never complain about my life. But I will vehemently complain about the continued injustice placed on Blacks, both young and old. We, as a people, are moving forward, full-trottle. We can not and will not be stopped, ever. Let no man put us asunder! History has showed us most horribly what can happen. My life is a gift and a testament of the struggles of my ancestors. Harriet Jacob's story has given me newfound strength to persevere in my career and to live life fully. My ancestors's angst, fears, physical and mental tortures will not go unnoticed, forgotten, nor minimized. I owe my ancestors a good, if not great life! African-Americans are strong, proud and resilient.
"Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud"! Rise Up My People!
Everyone should read books of slavery. Learn not only the torture of Blacks, but the warped psyche of American slaveholders and the mental legacy they have passed on that is prevalent today.

"Reader, be assured this narrative is no fiction.".......2007-01-25

And with that sentence begins perhaps the most powerful personal account on the brutality of slavery. Written under the name of Linda Brent, the reader is led on a journey into this world of hate by a white power structure in the south & north through the experiences of Harriet Jacobs.

"I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by slavery...." Jacobs writes. "Only by experience can anyone realize how deep, and dark, and foul is that pit of abominations."

And as I read this outstanding book, I reflected on how this country has never truly confronted the sordid past of slavery, the failure of Reconstruction and essentially a victory through defeat on the battlefield for those who were advocates of, shills for or operated businesses with slave labor.

This nation was built on the tears, blood, sweat and toil of millions, and Jacobs is one voice of truth, imploring those with open minds & hearts to hear the reality of human bondage.

The book should be required reading in every high-school American History class. The ramifications of rewriting history by running from the past must stop if this country wishes to step onto the path of true equal rights and justice for all.

Jacobs presents the facts. It is sad that it continually gets pushed aside for the fiction that is U.S. history.

Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.......2007-01-05

This book was excellent, and I couldn't put it down. It was an easy read and would be appropriate for anyone over age 12.

Harriet Jacobs and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: New Critical Essays (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture)

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How dear is your freedom?
Rare first hand account of slavery

Harriet Jacobs and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: New Critical Essays (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture)

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521497795

Book Description

Harriet Jacobs, today perhaps the single most read and studied Black American woman of the nineteenth century, has not until recently enjoyed sustained, scholarly analysis. This anthology presents a far-ranging compendium of literary and cultural scholarship that will take its place as the primary resource for students and teachers of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The contributors include both established Jacobs scholars and emerging critics; the essays take on a variety of subjects in Incidents, treating representation, gender, resistance, and spirituality from differing angles.

Customer Reviews:

How dear is your freedom?.......2007-01-05

This was a great read. The author takes us back to her innocent and fairly comfortable childhood and then surveys her own life. Her family is painted with bright brushes, you get to know them as they are beaten, whipped, run away, or die. The amount of indignity man heaps on his fellow human beings is almost too much, but Harriet's clarity helps you to understand the motivation of most of the players. Harriet's Journal clearly depicts just how the barbarism of slavery not only destroys the lives of the slaves, but of the slave owners.
Harriet manages to get free, but at what a cost! This book is a real page turner. I could not put it down.

Rare first hand account of slavery.......2006-12-16

Harriet Jacobs book Life of a Slave Girl is a unique piece of slave literature directly from the pen of an articulate slave. One gets a sense of the poignant way she can retell the story of her enslavement from a passage she writes in the preface of her book.

". . . I do earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a
realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South,
still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse.
I want to add my testimony to that of abler pens to convince the people
of the Free States what Slavery really is. Only by experience can any
one realize how deep, and dark, and foul is that pit of abominations."

Her story raises emotions of sentiment for a mother struggling to hold her family together, and it shines a light on the cruelties of slavery. The political sentiment at the time among the elites in the northern states was increasingly becoming antislavery. The political aspect of Jacob's writing is not that of the highly stylized writings of famous abolitionists or of eminent blacks such as Frederick Douglass using reason and religion to condemn slavery. Jacob's writing is visceral and down to earth. Her powerful argument against slavery pulls at the heartstrings of any sympathetic decent human being. In essence, Jacob's story is one that resonates with people of all socio-economic backgrounds. It is no mystery why the hearts and minds of people are stirred to action after one reads Jacob's disturbing accounts of sexual depravity, mental anguish, and the destruction of the family unit, that she endured as a slave. Her first person narrative account is what makes her book such a strong force of political sentiment in the genre of slave narrative. Since there were so few slave narratives in circulation at the time, it was easy for Jacob's book to engender such strong political sentimentality.

Jacob's ability to arouse aesthetic sentimentality in her audience was a bit tricky, because of the sexual decisions she had to make in her life. Deciding to have an elicit sexual relationship with an unmarried white neighbor to escape the depraved advances of her owner could be construed as Jacob's being more interested in autonomy and less interested in chastity. Jacob has made it clear to her audience that it was her station in life that caused her to make what her white readers would consider an unconventional choice. Jacob's plight as a slave caused her to choose freedom over trying to protect her chastity more strenuously. Since slavery took away almost all of her freedom and individuality, she was willing to trade her chastity for the freedom of choice. Jacob's virginity was one of the few things she possessed that she was able to withhold from her owner. After going into detail for why she made her choice she still felt it was necessary to apologize to her "Victoria" audience for her decision. This act on her part was truly one of the few choices she had the ability to make while in slavery's bondage. Thus, once Jacob's white audience understood the dreadfully marginal position she occupied in society, most of them would feel compassion for her. This would make her audience more inclined to accept the choice she felt was necessary to make for her own well-being. Jacob's decision over who she would give her sexual being to, was he only way of holding onto some semblance of individuality.

This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities. Recommended reading for anyone interested in history, psychology, philosophy, and literature.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave & Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Modern Library MM)

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shatter the romance!
A potent pairing of two essential autobiographies

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave & Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Modern Library MM)
Frederick Douglass , and Harriet Jacobs
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345478231
Release Date: 2004-12-28

Book Description

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.

Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

shatter the romance!.......2002-11-24

simply astounding! totally shatters those awful and ever-infectious civil war era romantic notions. be gone, "gone with the wind!" many thanks be to the spirits of mr. douglass and ms. jacobs for surviving their tremendous struggles to give us truth! recommend these books to others (especially the crowd that chooses to separate the "human stock" question from intellectual discussions of the civil war era).

A potent pairing of two essential autobiographies.......2001-10-24

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" (first published in 1845) and Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" (1861) are probably the two most powerful examples of the slave narrative. This literary form represents the first-person accounts of individuals who have lived as slaves. The Modern Library has paired these two essential American texts in a single edition, with an introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and commentaries by Jean Fagan Yellin and Margaret Fuller.

Together, "Narrative" and "Incidents" offer a male and female perspective on the institution that has left lasting scars on America. These texts are well written, and rich in social and political insights. Both authors graphically illustrate, for example, how the Judeo-Christan Bible and the Christian church were used as tools to support the racist system of slavery. Douglass provides a powerful window into the importance of literacy as a tool by which he escaped a slave mentality. And Jacobs incisively deconstructs the twisted strands of race, gender, power, and sexuality that tied together slaveowning culture.

"Narrative" and "Incidents" are compelling pieces of literature. Moreover, the authors' themes can be seen as foundational for many later works of United States literature: Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Toni Morrison's "Beloved," Octavia Butler's "Kindred," and many other texts. Even a popular film like "The Matrix" echoes the slave narratives in some aspects.

Douglass and Jacobs are prime examples of writers who superbly combined literary craftsmanship with an intense political commitment. Their achievements make them crucial figures in the field of African-American studies. This combined edition of their outstanding books should be celebrated by teachers, students, reading groups, church study groups, and individual readers.

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Rare first hand account of slavery

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Literary Touchstone Classic
Harriet Jacobs
Manufacturer: Prestwick House, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Perfect Paperback

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ASIN: 158049336X
Release Date: 2006-09-01

Product Description

Cover Copy: Driven by the horrors of slavery and fear of a predatory master, Harriet Jacobs, a young black woman, makes the fateful, life-altering decision to escape. Long thought to be the work of a white writer, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is the the captivating and terrifying story of Jacobs' daily life on a platation in North Carolinea, her seven years of hiding, and her ultimate triumph. Now recognized as a classic "Incidents" exposes slavery on a level comparable only to that of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary of notes and difficult vocabulary as well as reading pointers for sharper insights.

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Rare first hand account of slavery.......2006-12-16

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Written by Herself

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Rare first hand account of slavery

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Written by Herself

Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GVC1VY

Product Description

Written by Herself

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Rare first hand account of slavery.......2006-12-16

The Classic Slave Narratives: The Life of Olaudah Equiano, The History of Mary Prince, Life of Frederick Douglass, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

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The Classic Slave Narratives: The Life of Olaudah Equiano, The History of Mary Prince, Life of Frederick Douglass, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Manufacturer: New Amer Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NY2H5Y

The Erotics of Talk: Women's Writing and Feminist Paradigms

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The Erotics of Talk: Women's Writing and Feminist Paradigms
Carla Kaplan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Since the late 1960s, feminist critics have constructed an alternative canon of works in which women resist being silenced and narrate their stories to other women. Feminist critics have valued, above all else, the effort to discover these women's voices and to put women in dialogue with one another, to identify with the women whose stories they read. With many feminists now arguing for the limits of identification and the importance of differences between women, what is the fate of this canon-building and its methods.

In an original rereading of such feminist classics as Jane Eyre, "The Yellow Wallpaper," Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and The Color Purple, Kaplan focuses on how each work represents "talk" and how feminist critics have talked about those representations. Quite often, and especially in African-American women's texts, the narrator frustrates the readers' expectations and dramatizes the difficulties of getting in on "the cultural conversation." This performative strategy, Kaplan argues, has not been sufficiently accounted for. Uncovering how authors and characters long for an ideal listener--"the erotics of talk"-- Kaplan shows that the absence of that listener works as a rich political allegory and covert form of social critique.

Kaplan proposes a new model for understanding and representing "talk," one built on the conflicts and differences in feminism's contentious legacy. Feminism's health and future, she asserts, are in the strength of its conflicts. Through them, women can find the tools needed to bridge the boundaries between African American and white women's writing.

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet A Jacobs
Manufacturer: BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXL2XM

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VQ4NM4

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet A. Jacobs
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S7224M

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