Harriet Jacobs: More powerful author than Equiano

Harriet Jacobs

Olaudah Equiano and Harriet Jacobs were both very influential African American writers who told harrowing stories of the harsh realities of slavery. Both writers offer incredible insight into what was once a reality for numerous men and women. However, their first difference is in their gender. While Equiano talks about how slavery was for women, he obviously did not experience it firsthand. We can read from his point of view, and understand how horrible it must have been for female slaves, but this issue is really central to Jacobs. She describes the suffering a woman slave goes through, with a different, but related, set of issues to that of a male slave. Dr. Flint first proposed that Jacobs should have sex with him when she was only fifteen years old, as she "was his property and must be subject to his will in all things." While slaves were largely regarded as property by their owners, it is different for the case of women once you factor in rape, and children. Jacobs talks about these women's secrets in the following passage:

"The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition. My master was, to my knowledge, the father of eleven slaves. But did the mothers dare to tell who was the father of their children? Did the other slaves dare to allude to it, except in whispers among themselves? No, indeed! They knew too well the terrible consequences."

Jacobs also uses emotion more than Equiano. Equiano's writings seemed to rely more on descriptions, imagery, and chronological events. He details the events of his journey, and even describes bad things happening to him without evoking much feeling, as follows;

"I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables, and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced anything of this kind before, and, although not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first time I saw it, yet, nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings, I would have jumped over the side, but I could not; and besides, the crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should leap into the water; and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut, for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the case with myself."

He does use some words of feeling, but not in the sense that Harriet Jacobs does. She opens her work by saying;

"I would ten thousand times rather that my children should be the half-starved paupers of Ireland than to be the most pampered among the slaves of America. I would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation, till the grave opened to give me rest, than to live with an unprinciple master and a jealous mistress. The felon's home in a penitentiary is preferable. He may repent, and turn from the error of his ways, and so find peace; but it is not so witha favorite slave. She is not allowed to have any pride of character. It is deemed a crime in her to wish to be virtuous."

Jacobs was never beaten by Mr. or Mrs. Flint, and yet, her story is captivating by the vast comparisons she uses. She would rather her children be half starving and free than be spoiled and pampered among people owned by other people. She would rather work 24/7 than to be treated well by a master. She tells of emotional abuse that equals or is as bad as physical abuse. Sometimes I think that the fear of not knowing how they will punish you, not knowing if maybe they'll hit you this time, not knowing what they'll say or do, is worse than knowing that you will be whipped. Jacobs brings this fear of the unknown to life.

Overall, I liked reading Harriet Jacobs better. I thought her depictions of slavery were beautifully written, and her style was captivating. She told events, but she told her feelings too. She is obviously a very strong, driven woman, and one with a purpose. Her story is very powerfully told, and that power is what I loved most.