Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl · Chapter
What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North explained
Linda Brent exposes the lies slaveholders tell their slaves about the North, including fabricated stories of runaways starving and begging to return.
What happens
Linda Brent exposes the lies slaveholders tell their slaves about the North, including fabricated stories of runaways starving and begging to return. She argues that such deception, combined with the Fugitive Slave Law enforced by Northerners, discourages slaves from seeking freedom. She contrasts the brutalization of slaves with their inherent potential, and notes that even the most ignorant slaves have confused hopes of abolitionist help from the North.
Themes in this chapter
Northern Complicity and Abolitionism
Linda criticizes Northerners who enforce the Fugitive Slave Law and adopt Southern principles, while noting that some slaves still hope for abolitionist help.
Dehumanization and Identity
Linda argues that slavery brutalizes and dehumanizes slaves, but that this is a result of oppression, not inherent inferiority.
Hypocrisy of Religion and Morality
She condemns the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders who claim God created Africans to be slaves, contradicting the biblical teaching that God made all nations of one blood.
Characters to notice
- Linda Brent
Narrator who exposes the lies told to slaves about the North and reflects on the impact of the Fugitive Slave Law.
Key passages
“Slaveholders pride themselves upon being honorable men; but if you were to hear the enormous lies they tell their slaves, you would have small respect for their veracity.”
Slaveholders claim to be honorable, but the lies they tell their slaves reveal their dishonesty.
Linda introduces the theme of deception by slaveholders.
“If those heathen in our Christian land had as much teaching as some Hindus, they would think otherwise. They would know that liberty is more valuable than life.”
If slaves were educated like Hindus, they would understand that freedom is worth more than life itself.
Linda contrasts the ignorance imposed on slaves with the knowledge that could inspire them to seek freedom.
“But while the Free States sustain a law which hurls fugitives back into slavery, how can the slaves resolve to become men?”
As long as the Free States enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, slaves cannot find the courage to become free men.
Linda highlights the demoralizing effect of Northern complicity in slavery.