In Harriet Jacobs story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Jacobs presents a first hand account of what it was like to grow up as a slave in the south.
             Jacobs displays a talent for understanding what readers are curious about with regard to what it was like to be a slave and what it was like to become free from that bondage. She carefully gives credit to those who treated her well and she is honest and forthcoming about those who mistreated her.
             In reading the works one cannot help but feel anguish as she tells the story of Linda giving up her children to go to freedom and hopefully get them back with her.
             The entire provides a perfect backdrop to discuss the mistreatment of humans emotionally, physically and morally, while at the same time reminds the reader that even back during those times there were people who did not agree with or believe in the way African Americans were being treated.
             The book opens with a narrative by Linda Brent who believed as a small child she was free, because she was not introduced to the hardships of slavery until her mother and then her mistress died and she became owned by a five-year-old. She was 12 at the time she was purchased to be the little girl's slave.
             One of the strongest women in the story is the grandmother whom white people call Aunt Martha. In spite of her dire life circumstances she manages to get a bakery going and saves hundreds of dollars she hopes to use to purchase her children back with but she temporarily lends it to her own who never repays it.
             Throughout the story readers are given glimpses of human kindness and human cruelty working side by side, using slaves as the rope in the tug-of-war.
             The narrative provides heartbreaking stories of children being sold away from their parents and never seeing them again. In today's culture it is hard to imagine such practices taking place and being accepted.
             One of the most important things that the stor...