Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by

Harriet Jacobs

Linda’s father. Although he is a slave, he works independently as a carpenter on the condition of paying his mistress a certain amount of money each year. Because of this arrangement, Linda spends the early years of her childhood comparatively unaware of her enslavement. Father strives to impart dignity and self-respect to Linda and William, and to combat the degradation caused by slavery; for example, he tells them that they should always obey their parents above their mistress, even though doing so is against the law. Father dies during Linda’s first year of living with the Flints.

Father Quotes in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl quotes below are all either spoken by Father or refer to Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Dehumanizing Effects of Slavery Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

I spent the day gathering flowers and weaving them into festoons, while the dead body of my father was lying within a mile of me. What cared my owners for that? He was merely a piece of property. Moreover, they thought he had spoiled his children, by teaching them to feel that they were human beings. This was blasphemous doctrine for a slave to teach…

Related Characters: Harriet Jacobs / Linda Brent (speaker), Father, Mrs. Flint
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:
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Father Quotes in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl quotes below are all either spoken by Father or refer to Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Dehumanizing Effects of Slavery Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

I spent the day gathering flowers and weaving them into festoons, while the dead body of my father was lying within a mile of me. What cared my owners for that? He was merely a piece of property. Moreover, they thought he had spoiled his children, by teaching them to feel that they were human beings. This was blasphemous doctrine for a slave to teach…

Related Characters: Harriet Jacobs / Linda Brent (speaker), Father, Mrs. Flint
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis: