Frances Vazquez

The combining Thoughts of Geneva Cobb Moore and Sally Gomaas critical essays on Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl is a monumental moment in American literature. After careful analysis of Geneva Cobb Moores A Freudian Reading of Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Sally Gomaas Writing to "Virtuous" and "Gentle" Readers: The Problem of Pain in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents and Harriet Wilson's Sketches, both authors critique the emotional affects of sexual abuse. Jacobs bravely admits to the sexualization, and its psychological effects brought upon slave women by their masters. The readings given throughout the course such as the Narrative of Frederick Douglass and William and Ellen Craft describes the various occurrences of slaves fathered by their white masters. It is clear that these mix children or as they call it mulattos were not conceived out of love, but as an attempt for slave masters to use their powers to govern the mind and body of their slave women. Jacobs under the pseudonym of Linda Brent in her story describes Dr. Flint as a wicked and perverse slave owner and father of eleven slaves (Jacobs 55). Dr. Flints growing interest deepened once Jacobs reached puberty, Moore describes propertied bodies of slave girls often became sexed bodies after puberty (4). Moore uses the Freudian approach bringing into perspective the psych of slave women, Jacobs exposes the pathological nature of slavery as a peculiar rather than benign institution (Moore 5). Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl expose sexual exploitation of slave women and the deeply rooted pain that is inherited. Jacobs gears her story towards white women and pleads with them to understand her, But I trust my readers will excuse deficiencies in consideration of circumstances (Jacobs 5). She understands that in order to maintain the interest of her readers and to win the readers trust, Jacobs has to visit places, in her writing and her memory she would rather avoid (Gomaa 373). Notwithstanding the harassment of Dr. Flint, Jacobs desperately takes matters into her own hands and becomes impregnated by a white man named Mr. Sands. Moore and Gomaa both agree that enslaved women had no rights to their own bodies and that they could not be expected to be held to the same level as white women in upholding True Womanhood." Gomaa writes, There is something akin to captivity in having to confess that by surrendering to slaverys teaching, a body is all. In this, Jacobs finds a way to triumph over [her] tyrant (85). But this triumph is a loss of herself or of the self she would have liked to maintain (Gomaa 376). This illustrates that Dr. Flint in consequence of the fact was unsuccessful at taken Jacobs virginity. She willingly gave it to Mr. Sands upholding what little freedom and control she had over her life at that moment. Moore describes this state, But the curse of slaverys degradation was written more painfully on the black body in crisis as seen in their acute physical and psychological torture (Moore 7).

Work Cited Gomaa, Sally. Writing to "Virtuous" and "Gentle" Readers: The Problem of Pain in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents and Harriet Wilson's Sketches. African American Review. 43.2 (2009) : 371-381. Project Muse. Web. 2 Dec. 2012 <http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.ucf.edu/journals/african_american_review v043/43.2-3.gomaa.html> Jacobs, Harriet. "Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl." Andrews, William L. and Henry Louis Gates Jr. Slave Narratives. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc., 2002. Moore, Geneva Cobb. A Freudian Reading of Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The Southern Literary Journal 38.1 (2005) : 1-19. Project Muse. Web. 2 Dec. 2012 <http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.ucf.edu/journals/southern_literary_journal v038/38.1moore.html>