Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by

Harriet Jacobs

The Carpenter Character Analysis

A young free man with whom Linda falls in love as a teenager. The carpenter offers to buy Linda’s freedom, but Dr. Flint won’t allow her to be sold and threatens to kill him. Her courtship with the carpenter represents the virtuous and respectable life that Linda wants and could have easily lived if not for slavery.
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The Carpenter Character Timeline in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

The timeline below shows where the character The Carpenter appears in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Seven: The Lover
The Dehumanizing Effects of Slavery Theme Icon
...As a teenager Linda doesn’t understand this and she falls in love with a freeborn carpenter, who wants to marry her. However, she’s worried that marital happiness is impossible for her.... (full context)
Sexual Virtue and Sexual Abuse Theme Icon
...explains her situation, and asks her to convince Dr. Flint to sell her to the carpenter. The woman does so but fails, and Dr. Flint is enraged with Linda for falling... (full context)
The Dehumanizing Effects of Slavery Theme Icon
Sexual Virtue and Sexual Abuse Theme Icon
...the ways he’s tried to “make [her] happy.” He closes by threatening to shoot the carpenter if he ever sees him at the house. (full context)
Sexual Virtue and Sexual Abuse Theme Icon
Once, Dr. Flint catches Linda speaking to the carpenter in the street; at home he taunts her, asking when her wedding will be, and... (full context)
Chapter Ten: A Perilous Passage in the Slave Girl’s Life
Sexual Virtue and Sexual Abuse Theme Icon
Women Theme Icon
...from childhood” not to judge her. If she wasn’t enslaved, she could have married the carpenter and lived chastely for her entire life. As it is, she has to choose between... (full context)