Incidents in The Life of A Slave Girl - Character Analysis

Character Analysis

Linda Brent - The lead protagonist and a pseudonym for Harriet Jacobs. At the start of the story, Linda is unaware of her status as a slave due to her first kind masters, who taught her how to read and write. She faces betrayal and harassment by her subsequent masters, the Flints. Linda learns along the way how to defend herself against her masters. She uses psychological warfare and cunning to avoid the advances of Dr. Flint, which prove to be effective in the story. However, Jacobs reveals in the beginning of the book that there were aspects of her story that she could not bear to write down on paper. She is torn between her desire for personal freedom and her feeling of personal responsibility to her family, especially her children Benny and Ellen. Jacobs never feels that she quite understands freedom as a black slave, and consistently considers African Americans to be on a different level of morality than all others.

Dr. Flint - Linda's master, enemy and would be lover. He has the legal right to do anything he wants to Linda, but wishes to seduce her by tricking and threatening her rather than raping her. Throughout the book, Linda constantly rebels against him and refuses to do anything sexual with him. This enrages him and he soon obsesses over the idea of breaking her rebellious spirit. Dr. Flint never recognizes that Linda is a human being with feelings, desires or unalienable rights. Dr. Flint represents the oppressive male role in 19th-century America in that he objectifies Linda for being a woman and consistently fights with his wife.

Aunt Martha - Linda's grandmother on her mothers side and one of her closest friends. She is both religious and patient. She is saddened as she watches her children and grandchildren sold and being abused by their white masters. She grieves throughout the book when her loved ones escape their masters and find freedom because she will never see them again. Family to her must be preserved no matter what, even at the cost of their freedom and their happiness. Aunt Martha is not afraid to stand up for herself or her family, and talks to the Flints with pride, dignity, and importance. Aunt Martha is the only slave Dr. Flint fears throughout the entire novel.

Mrs. Flint - is Linda's mistress and Dr. Flint's wife. She is suspicious of a sexual relationship between Linda and Dr. Flint and in turn is vicious towards Linda. Though she is a church woman, she is brutal and insensitive to her slaves. She demonstrates how the slave system has corrupted the moral character of Southern women. Mrs. Flint and Dr. Flint consistently fight over his treatment of Linda, in which he protects Linda from any form of corporal punishment that Mrs. Flint considered dispensing. Mrs. Flint is ruled by her husband and is unable to break free of this constraint due to the lack of rights in women during the 19th century.

Mr. Sands - Linda's lover who is white and the father of her children, Benny and Ellen. Mr. Sands is a kind-natured man compared to Dr. Flint but he has no real loving affection towards his two racially mixed children. Mr. Sands acts as Linda's portal to partial freedom. Linda uses Sands in a similar way that he uses her. Linda needs someone to make her feel important or almost free. Similarly, Linda knew it would enrage her master, Dr. Flint, in which case he can not stop. He breaks his promises to Linda and he eventually doesn't talk to her anymore. He eventually has another child by his wife and treats that child with more affection than Benny and Ellen.