"Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl" 9/22

1. Class: How does membership in a social class affect the characters' choices and their successes or failures? How does class affect the way characters view-- or are viewed by-- others? What do economic struggles reveal about power relationships in the society being depicted?


Even the title gives away the class and struggles of the main character.  Linda Brant was born a slave and knew no difference in her life.  She struggled from the beginning with the feeling of inferiority to her white counterparts, beside from the couple of years she had a mistress who cared for her and treated her with kindness.  Eventually, Linda fell in love with a free black man but her status of slave or class she was born into forbade her from marrying this man.  When she went to ask her master for his permission he would not allow it because she was his "property." How can a person be someones property any way?  Her master explains she can marry one of his slaves.  She interjects and wonders if he even realizes that she herself could have some preference in who she wants to marry.  When asked if she loves this free man she replies with a simple yes and she struck because of it.  She is affected by her class because she cannot even explain how she loves someone to her master without fear of being hit.  Can you imagine telling someone that you are in love and then being struck for it? I sure cannot.  But, even this free black man she wants to marry and he, himself, is in love with her would have to purchase her from her master to even marry her.  Another class side effect that has plagued this poor young women.  Her master begins to sexually harass this poor women, but because she comes from the slaves class, her mistress blames her for the unimaginable choices her husband is making.  How can someone be blamed for something they did not want nor ask for.  How can a women herself hate another women because she is being harassed by her own husband.  Both of these happen because she is a slave and has no power.  For this slave, her entire life was a struggle because she was born into the bottom class.  Even when she became free she had to run and hide because her old master wanted her back.


I still see some of these struggles within different classes today that people have to struggle and over come.  Being born into and economically disadvantaged family can affect your entire life.  In school, children make fun you, you struggle to get to college and you struggle after trying to make something of yourself and not fall into the low SES you came from. It is an uphill battle your entire life to overcome any struggle you faced at a point in your life.