Harriet Jacobs

Question 1

What is the pseudonym Harriet Jacobs uses to publish “Incidents”?

Answer 1

Linda Brent

Question 2

What is the name of Linda’s master?

Answer 2

Dr. Flint (real name: Dr. Norcrom)

Question 3

With who does Linda/Harriet begin a relationship? Why?

Answer 3

Mr. Sands, a white neighbor. She hopes that by starting a sexual relationship with Sands, Dr. Flint will become disgusted with her and sell her to Sands, who seems to be a much nicer man (for a slave owner).

Question 4

How long does Harriet/Linda spend in the crawl space?

Answer 4

About Seven Years

Question 5

To what genre of novel might “Incidents” be compared?

Answer 5

The sentimental novel popular in the 18th/19th centuries, which often featured a virtuous girl attempting to rebuff sexual advances.

We might think specifically of Pamela (and maybe Jane Eyre), and how Jacobs might have been working from within an established literary tradition to get her point across. In a sentimental novel, “tears” would have some kind of effect on the story. Slavery upsets this expectation for readers to emphasize its horrors.

Sentimental novels emphasize pathos above reason.

Question 6

What specific audience does Harriet Jacobs address in this work?

Answer 6

White women in the North

Question 7

Where is Harriet Jacobs kept as a slave?

Answer 7

North Carolina

Question 8

What is the name of Linda’s grandmother?

Answer 8

Aunt Martha

Question 9

Who writes the preface to the book to add to its legitimacy?

Answer 9

Abolitionist Lydia Maria Child (Since Child was a writer herself, it was long believed that she was the author of this narrative)

Question 10

What are Linda’s children’s names?

Answer 10

Ellen and Benny

Question 11

Who is technically Linda’s owner?

Answer 11

Emily Flint, the Dr.’s daughter. Linda is “given” to her when she is 12 and Emily is 5.

Question 12

Who frees Linda? What is Linda’s reaction?

Answer 12

The Second Mrs. Bruce, who buys her freedom for $300. She is grateful to Mrs. Bruce, but also angry that she has been sold - and treated as an object - again.

Question 13

What is a long-lasting effect of Linda’s time in the attic?

Answer 13

Her limited range of motion over such a long period of time results in physical disability that Linda has for the rest of her life.

Question 14

How does Linda eventually escape?

Answer 14

By boat

Question 15

With what words, used by other writers of slave narratives, does Jacobs open “Incidents”?

Answer 15

“I was born”

Question 16

When does Linda realize that she is a slave?

Answer 16

When she is six years old and her kind mistress dies. When she is given as property to someone else, Jacobs realizes she is a slave - though these early years of identity and independence help motivate her in her quest for freedom.

Question 17

What happens to the $300 Aunt Martha saves up to buy her children’s freedom?

Answer 17

He loans it to her mistress, who never repays her - and uses the money to buy a silver candelabra. The candelabra will likely become an heirloom in the Flint family, even though it was bought with stolen money. Not only is the money taken from Aunt Martha, but also the privilege of leaving a legacy/heirlooms for her own children.

Question 18

Is beauty a virtue for black women?

Answer 18

No - it just attracts the unwanted attention of white men who want to take advantage of them. Very different from white women, for whom beauty is often a way of improving social status.

Question 19

What connection could we make to “Beloved” by Toni Morrison?

Answer 19

Upon the birth of her son, Linda experiences very mixed emotions. She loves him, but almost wishes he was dead because she can’t bear to think about him facing the horrors of slavery. In “Beloved,” Morrison delves into the psychological consequences of a mother (Seethe) murdering her child rather than see her become a slave.

Morrison’s project is to recover those “unspeakable things unspoken” that were left out of slave narratives and other black writing.

Question 20

What is the effect of the Nat Turner rebellion on Linda and her family?

Answer 20

The aftermath of the rebellion is a scary time to be a slave. Homes are ransacked and violence threatened, even among people who have had nothing to do with rebellion.

Question 21

When was the Fugitive Slave Act passed?

Answer 21

1850

Question 22

What promise does Mr. Sands break?

Answer 22

To free Ellen and Benjamin. He repeatedly says he will do it, and then keeps not doing it.

Question 23

What event finally motivates Linda to leave the attic?

Answer 23

The death of her great Aunt Nancy. Linda decides that she can’t bear the idea of dying in slavery.

Question 24

What is the name of family Ellen is living with in Brooklyn?

Answer 24

The Hobbs

Question 25

Why does Linda conclude after her trip to England?

Answer 25

She feels that she is finally experiencing true freedom because of the lack of Jim Crow laws in England. Additionally, she observes the conditions of the poorest people in England and concludes that even they are better off than slaves in America.

She particularly notes that there is no law preventing them from learning to read and write, and that, while they may be poor, they are allowed the support systems of friends and families that slaves are denied.

Question 26

Which two members of Linda’s family decide to “pass” to survive?

Answer 26

Her Uncle Benjamin and his namesake, her son Benjamin

Question 27

What happens to Dr. Flint?

Answer 27

In the last chapter of the book, Linda receives notification from her Aunt that he has died. Upon his death, the Flint family finally agrees to sell Linda.

Question 28

What happens to Aunt Martha?

Answer 28

She lives to learn that Harriet is free, but dies soon afterwards.

Question 29

What relation is Aunt Martha to Lina?

Answer 29

Her grandmother

Question 30

Discuss the power dynamics between Jacobs and Flint.

Answer 30

In any situation where one person has power over another, the dominant person needs the dominated person in order to continue exerting control. Jacobs works within this framework to maintain her own relative agency and frustrate Flint’s quest for domination.

Question 31

What is the subtitle of this book? Why is it important?

Answer 31

“Written by Herself”; This title is a political act because it was illegal for slaves to be able to read or write.

Question 32

Discuss the significance of the candelabra.

Answer 32

This is the object Aunt Martha’s mistress buys with the money she borrows from Aunt Martha - money that is never repaid thanks to Dr. Flint’s cruelty. Jacobs notes how this candelabra will probably become an heirloom for the Flint family.

Slaves like Jacobs are not only prevented from passing heirlooms down to their loved ones, they are objectified and passed down like heirlooms themselves.

Question 33

What is an example of when Jacobs upturns the sentimental tradition?

Answer 33

She includes the letters from the Flint family in full. They are full of sentimental tropes - allusions to family ties, the importance of Christianity, “tear-jerking” moments”, and sentimental feeling.

Jacobs message to her readers in including it is: “I wasn’t fooled by this, and you shouldn’t be either.” Sentimental tropes were often used to defend slavery, so Jacobs’ message is strengthened by including and then subverting them.