For this blog, let us go back to that one time in lecture when we discussed William Apess, a Native American author and public speaker of sorts. Apess was naturally fiery about his cause. This cause was directly involved with the unfair treatment of Natives by Caucasians. In his writings, Apess declares his opinions with fervor and speaks out for his people. This writing is most definitely something like a speech, seeing as how he uses rhetoric to send forth his message to his audiences. "My brothers...my brothers..."
Apess' venue of protestation was effective, but Harriet Jacobs decided to take a different route; she simply told her story. Harriet lived in the 1800's--right around the Civil War. She had a voice during this time period, which was good considering this war was all about Southern rights, and that included, well, HER. This was a time when southerners were antsy about the possible election of a president who may or may not take away their precious slavery (by the way, that would be Abraham Lincoln). With new states entering into the Union and such, slavery was already a heavily debated issue. To keep, or not to keep? That IS the question. Lincoln wanted to keep things at a neutral place, allowing the pre-existing states to keep their slavery, but creating all new states as "free soil" (a term used in the time period to describe a state where a slave could become free). But slavery was pretty much the death sentence debate of the 19th century, and so people talked. That brings us back to Jacobs.
Harriet Jacobs' narrative, Incidents int eh Life of a Slave Girl, was her story. What you read in your anthology is what her life was like. Like any other slave who wrote such literature, her writing was questioned (we wouldn't want another Equiano on our hands, now would we?). But I think it's safe to say that this narrative is all her own and it is a true account.
So instead of trying to call out to an audience to make them ponder the present issue, she gives her testimony. Reading such a testimony is bound to pluck away at some heartstrings, and indeed it did. I really feel like Jacobs was almost like a smaller, woman version of Frederick Douglass. In fact, some of her work was mentioned and quoted in my history class the other day. (I got all excited!!) Jacobs' Incidents is written in a way where you can just read and you get it and it's good. As I started reading it, I got sucked in and didn't really pay any attention to anything else. I'm sure we can all connect with her in the way she longed for something and yet was denied it. We're all familiar with the star-crossed lovers ordeal, but this narrative takes it to the next level of cruelty when we read about Mr. Flint's harassment. It's just sad that the next level even happened. Though she clearly dislikes dregging up her painful memories, she tells us about her "unhappy times" for the sake of the message. "And now, reader, I come to a period in my unhappy life, which I would gladly forget if I could. The remembrance fills me with sorrow and shame. It pains me to tell you of it; but I have promised to tell you the truth, and I will do it honestly, let it cost me what it may" (p. 1816).
This automatically makes the reader proceed with caution, knowing that he or she is about to read horrible things. It sets a sad tone and makes the reader consider how Jacobs suffered much more than any rhetorical question would. What it all comes down to is this: when you know that someone has been through it all, you're more willing to understand them, hear their voice and think on their thoughts. Testimonies are powerful.
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