The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs - 1779 Words

The freedom to choose one’s own destiny should be an equal and unalienable right of every individual. Unfortunately, history is filled with societal groups as a whole as well as single individuals being prejudicially restricted of this freedom. Notwithstanding these obstacles, there are the individuals who through the triumph of the human spirit persevered to pave the path of freedom. The books Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, and stories from the anthology Spider Woman’s Web, recount the stories of individuals who succeeded in obtaining their right to human dignity. Their journey to freedom occurred while simultaneously having to fight prejudicial obstacles, laws, and punishments inflicted†¦show more content†¦Additionally, she had a kind owner who taught her how to read and write. Linda’s fortune changed when at the tender age of six her mother died and at the age of twelve her kind mistress died. Linda then fell into the ownership of the manipulatively obsessive Dr. Flint. It was through the juxtaposition of these extreme slavery conditions that Linda had the opportunity to understand that she really was human and it was worth trying to achieve freedom. Ironically, Linda’s intelligence and independent spirit only made her more attractive as an object to be controlled by her prejudiced and obsessive master, Dr. Flint. In a psychological power struggle with Dr. Flint, she covertly gives her emotions and trust over to another man, Mr. Sands, and bears Mr. Sands two children. Linda’s children are legally considered to be the slaves of Dr. Flint, but at the same time to her they represent living symbols of her ability to be defiant. Her children thus give her the motivation to attain her deepest human aspirations to become a free woman. Step by step she climbs the ladder to full freedom. For instance, she chose to run away and hide in her grandmother’s garret for seven years rather than spending one more day as a slave and an abused sex object. The garret barely afforded her with the space to lie down and was ill protected from the