Life of a Slave Girl

In Harriet Jacobs' novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the narrator takes several steps to assert her status as a person and to make a case against the dehumanization inherent in slavery. The dehumanization of Jacobs' and other slaves in the novel is clearly shown through the sexual exploitation that they face, and the separation of women and their children. Jacob's continually fights against this degradation, and asserts herself as a person. She refuses the advances of Mr. Flint, chooses another man with which to have an affair, and ultimately goes to the extremes of hiding in a cramped garret to assert her independence. Ultimately, Jacobs' is successful in obtaining her freedom, but she only obtains freedom through an extraordinary perseverance and force of will.

Jacob's account is a clear description of the degradation that women slaves face through sexual exploitation and...
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