In writing Incidents In The Life of a Slave Girl Jacobs made it a point that white women could never fully understand the difference between white women and black women’s life in society. “You never knew what it is to be a slave, to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of a chattel, entirely subject to the will of another. The painful and humiliating memory will haunt me to my dying day (Jacobs 1044).” Some of these differences were how white women vs black women had to comply with sexual practices. If raped, white women had the opportunity to be able to present their case in court. If the accused man was convicted, he could face punishment by death; at the very least a white woman could be heard by officials. Being a black woman and getting raped was a different story; nothing could be done about it. Jacobs being a slave, was only seen as property; her master believed he had every right to sexually harass Jacobs when and where he pleased. “Jacobs portrays the torturous and confining life of the slave girl subject to the whims of a master who wishes to stand in relation to her simultaneously as imprisoner, father, and lover (Wardop).” Jacobs notes that black women had to comply with every sexual practice or there would be a physical backslash. On top of all the sexual harassment, black women had to take, they still had to attend to their laboring tasks, living in fear, and the demands of being a mother. “The forced motherhood experienced by black women defined their existence and influenced their survival (Littlefield).”
	Jacobs wanted civil rights activists and the world to become aware of the horrifying lifestyle that black women had to go through; by sharing their own sexual history. But, at a time when black women were not being heard, especially not respected at all to be heard – what could Jacobs do to get her point across? First, she had to be completely honest about her life – share that she was an unwed mother, discuss the sexual exploitation of female slaves, and open up about her very own sexual history. She wanted to do all this, but without any attachment to her name, so she came up with an alter ego – Linda Brent. “In and through Brent’s narrative of her experiences in slavery as a sexual object and as a mother, Harriet Jacobs moved her book beyond the limits of genteel nineteenth-century discourse (Lautner 1034).” Incidents is a tell-all book that brilliantly shows the parallel world between a broken soul and a superhero. For her audience to understand her influence on African American rights, they have to know be familiar with the trials and tribulations of an oppressed slave taking advantage of sexually. “When writing as a triumphant slave mother, Jacob’s narrator recounts precise details and uses languages directly; when confessing her sexual history, however, she presents herself as a repentant supplicant, omitting specifics and using the elevated vocabulary, elaborate sentence structures, and mannered prose associated with the popular fiction of the period (Lautner 1034).” As Linda Brent, Jacobs is able to furiously speak up about the sexual harassment she had to take, but also open up about her weaknesses – even confessing that she was able to hate at one point in her life. "Harriet Jacobs had become 'Linda Brent,' but not to hide behind a pseudonym or to disappear under a fictitious name. As 'Linda' she had empowered herself to write about a life that as 'Harriet,' she could neither speak nor write (Moore)." Incidents is very well written, it is a deep emotional rollercoaster which is beneficial for readers to take read it with compassion, and be seen as an important African American literature.

Harriet Ann Jacobs - Never Submit