Rape. A tragedy for virtually anyone under the standards of 21 century America. What if the injured party is considered property? What if they are a young black slave living in the 19th century? Does this change the standards? These are very real circumstances that were faced by many slaves. One particular instance is "The Trials of a Slave Girl" where Harriet Jacobs conveys an image almost too difficult to envision.
Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in 1813, but according to her book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she "never knew it until six years of happy childhood passed away". After Harriet's mother died in 1819, she continued to live with her mothers benevolent mistress for the next six years of her life where she was brought up by her grandmother. After her mothers mistress passed away, Harriet and her grandmother were inherited by the mistress' brother-in-law, Dr. James Norco, "Dr. Flint". This seemed to be the moment in which her true trials would begin. With a new master, she thought she might have to become accustomed to new tasks and customs, but she wasn't ready for what she was really going to experience.
Unlike past slave-owners, Dr. Flint addressed her with pure disrespect. He did not believe that she deserved respect, and the laws combined with common opinion at the time made her property. He could do whatever he felt necessary with his property. That difference of opinion began many conflicts in Harriet's life, because she was brought up with strong morals that made her feel like more than a piece of property. At the age of 14, she says he "peopled my young mind with unclean images" and she began to view him as a monster. She goes on to describe the extremities of being a slave, a piece of property, "The degradations, the wrongs, the vices, that grow out of slavery are ...greater than you would willingly believe". She even touches on women's right by saying that no matter the color of a woman's skin, "there is no law to protect her from insult, from violence or even from death; all these inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of men". This showed that the law and so many other things were on Dr. Flints side, and in society she was not a real person. She felt as if there was nowhere she could go, and nothing she could do to get away from his overbearing grip. Understandably, she felt bewildered and alone. She could not disclose her secret to anyone. Although she 鈥渓onged for someone to confide in鈥?Dr. Flint threatened to kill her if she was not 鈥渁s silent as the grave".
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