Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Family Quotes Page 3
Chapter.Paragraph
| Quote #7 My friends feared I should become a cripple for life; and I was so weary of my long imprisonment that, had it not been for the hope of serving my children, I should have been thankful to die; but, for their sakes, I was willing to bear on. (24.7) |
Linda’s emphasis on family makes her story tailor-made to appeal to Northern white women readers, since it confirms their own expectations about how women should behave.
| Quote #8 “O Aggie […] it seems as if I shouldn’t have any of my children or grandchildren left to hand me a drink when I’m dying, and lay my old body in the ground.” (26.9) |
When stoic Aunt Martha finally expresses a feeling, it’s pretty effective—effective enough to temporarily convince Linda not to run away.
| Quote #9 “I wish it could have lived […] it is not the will of God that any of my children should live. But I will try to be fit to meet their little spirits in heaven.” (28.2) |
Aunt Nancy's sad little story shows that slave women's children are sacrificed to the whims of their masters and mistresses—whims as trivial as the need for a midnight glass of water.
