The war of my life had begun; and though one of God's most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered.
Harriet Ann JacobsRead
If a slave is unwilling to go with his new master, he is whipped, or locked up in jail, until he consents to go, and promises not to run away during the year.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on coercion and the loss of freedom experienced by those who are enslaved.
Harriet Ann Jacobs highlights the harsh realities of slavery, depicting a scenario where a slave's choice is stripped away, forcing compliance through physical punishment or imprisonment. This underscores the inhumanity of the institution of slavery, illustrating how it dehumanizes individuals and limits their autonomy, as they are coerced into obedience under threat of violence or confinement.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about historical injustices and the ongoing fight for freedom and rights.
The war of my life had begun; and though one of God's most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered.
No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery.
But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words in my ear. Young as I was, I could not remain ignorant of their import
I would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation, till the grave opened to give me rest, than to live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress.
Southern women often marry a man knowing that he is the father of many little slaves. They do not trouble themselves about it.
If you want to be fully convinced of the abominations of slavery, go on a southern plantation, and call yourself a negro trader. Then there will be no concealment; and you will see and hear things that will seem to you impossible among human beings with immortal souls.
It is advertising and the logic of consumerism that governs the depiction of reality in the mass media.
It has always seemed to me extreme presumptuousness on the part of those who want to make human ability the measure of what nature can and knows how to do, since, when one comes down to it, there is not one effect in nature, no matter how small, that even the most speculative minds can fully understand.
Finding oneself was a misnomer; a self is not found but made.
I live not in myself, but I become Portion of that around me: and to me High mountains are a feeling, but the hum of human cities torture.
The soul should take care of the body, just as the pilgrim on his way to Makkah takes care of his camel; but if the pilgrim spends his whole time in feeding and adorning his camel, the caravan will leave him behind, and he will perish in the desert.
Everything that is,casts a shadow
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