Student Question
How did Dr. Flint's wife influence Harriet's life in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl?
Quick answer:
Both Mr. and Mrs. Flint have profoundly negative influences on Linda Brent, the fictional character that Harriet Jacobs uses to tell her story. Mr. Flint is a sexual predator, and his wife blames Linda for his behavior. Mr. Flint also punishes her children in an effort to harm her further.
Mrs. Flint shows Harriet just how morally corrupting the system of slavery really is. Instead of holding her husband accountable for his serial philandering, she puts all the blame onto Harriet, seeing her as a craven temptress rather than a cruelly exploited slave.
To some extent, Mrs. Flint is also a victim of the peculiar institution in that it encourages white men to force themselves upon their female slaves, thus breaking their marriage vows. But instead of developing a sense of solidarity with Harriet, Mrs. Flint hates her guts, seeing her as responsible for her husband's infidelity. Not only that, but she actually joins with her husband, the man responsible for all her feelings of jealousy and rage, in trying to track down Harriet after she escapes.
What all this demonstrates is the corrosive effect of slavery on the human soul, how it turns traditional notions of right and wrong...
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completely upside-down.
How do Mr. Flint and his wife influence Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl?
Linda Brent is the character that Harriet Jacobs creates to tell a fictionalized version of her own story in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The Flints are the family that enslaves Linda during most of the period covered by the memoir. Both Mr. Flint and his wife mistreat Linda, albeit in different ways. Their cruelty later extends beyond the individual woman to encompass her children, making it much more difficult for Linda to escape.
As the legal owner of fifty African American slaves, Mr. Flint believes that he is entitled to have sexual relations with any of the women. However, having convinced himself that the women were actually consenting to such relations, he draws the line at using physical force to rape them. Mrs. Flint blames the enslaved women for her husband’s behavior. Even though Linda refuses him, the mistress does not believe her and continues to think Linda has tempted her husband.
Mr. Flint attempts to have sex with Linda numerous times, but she will not give in. Her resistance is not well received, and he determines to make her life more difficult. This attitude extends to his refusing to allow Sands, the man with whom she has two children, to purchase her freedom. After Linda escapes and goes into hiding, Flint uses the children to try to flush her out; he has them and her brother jailed. Overall, the negative attitudes and behaviors that both Flints exhibit strengthen Linda’s resolve to regain her freedom and that of her children.