A Slave Girl's Brave Tale

Slavery, to almost everyone is seen as something horrific and inhumane. The subject of how brutal slavery was has been depicted over and over again. Jacobs approach was not to gain sympathy for her plight as an abused slave girl. Instead, she was trying to get readers to feel compassion for the women who are still being oppressed. Even though Jacobs claims to not want sympathy and even aplogizes for some of the graphic information, she did an excellent job in conveying her story to readers and showing a strong fight for womanhood. “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.” (Jacobs p. 263) 

"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is a true account of the brutal conditions held for slave women. Although men slave are mentioned, the essay is geared more towards women and the unfair conditions that they had to face day after day. During her time, writing about this was unfathomable. In fact, women having any rights at all was almost unheard of. This is shown in the way the white women succumb to their husbands in ways that seems incomprehensible. Women's Movement was a far ways away, yet Jacobs was brave enough to put this into writing in days when this could have cost her her own life.