From: Kristi De Simone
Date: 4/12/00
Time: 11:15:11 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.244.84
In the South during the slavery era it is clear in both Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Mary Norcott Bryan, A Grandmother's Recollections of Dixie that life were perceived differently. In Jacobs, point of view life was mentally and physically painful for a slave. She tells a story of abuse. Harriet was sexually abused by her master, which was far from uncommon on plantations. Her master fathered eleven unclaimed babies with slaves. This act was considered justly because the babies were considered property as if they were pigs or farm animals. This sexual abuse made Harriet her masters' favorite. Being her masters' favorite gave Harriet special privileges, she was not whipped or beaten, yet the pain of knowing that her peers were being beaten was just as torturous. Being the favorite of her master also had a bad side to it. The mistress was very suspicion and jealous of Harriet and her relationship with her master. Harriet states that "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". This emotion is in total contrast with Mary Norcott Bryan recollection of a slave's life. Bryan tells a wealthy white woman's side to slavery. Life was nice for slaves and their owners, according to Bryan. The slaves were in a pleasant partnership with the family. The slaves were more like an extended family than property Bryan felt. The slaves and the white people lived nicely together. The slaves and the masters participated in many hospital events. White and black children played hand in hand. Bryan even recalls caring for the slave babies when the mothers were out at the field working. The partnership was so nice that Bryan made plans with a friend in Rhode Island to give some slaves freedom. These events contrast each other to the extreme. Bryan tells of a happy family like environment, while Jacobs tells a story of the horror of physical and sexually abuses The events that both women shared are child caring and the skill of literacy. Both women were literate. For Mary it was new but expectable, for Harriet it was forbidden to learn how to write or read. From various other sources the conclusion is that Harriet's situation was the normal situation and Mary's situation was very pleasant yet abnormal. Life was hard for the slaves in either story, no matter how bad or good their situations were on the plantation, they all were stolen off their homeland, dragged here in inhumane situations and broken away from their families. No matter who tells the story their life was unfair.