Biography and History -- Harriet Jacob's The Life of a Slave Girl

Solid essay about biographical determinism in former slave/writer Biography and History -- Harriet Jacob's The Life of a Slave Girl To be a good writer, you must posess a careful balance between detachment and association, a delicate waltz where you are not so wrapped up in the events of a story that it alienates the reader, and yet not so far separated from the subject matter that the readers cannot get into it. This …

…deceit in the chapters that she writes, because that would work against her. Her message is simple, she explains it in a dialogue with her brother: 'He grew vexed, and asked if poverty and hardships with freedom, were not preferable to our treatment in slavery. Linda,' he continued, we are dogs here; foot-balls, cattle, every thing that's mean. No, I will not stay. Let them bring me back. We don't die but once.''