Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Slavery Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph

Quote #7

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. (9.22)

If this book isn't enough to convince you, Linda wants you to head on down and see the horrors for themselves. (Although maybe the real question is why simple logic isn't enough to convince everyone that, you know, owning other human beings is wrong.)

Quote #8

Pity me, and pardon me, O virtuous reader! 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. (10.6)

Here's another appeal to the reader. Linda is trying to get her readers on her side, to see that she only behaved badly—according to their standards—to escape a worse fate.

Quote #9

Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own. (14.6)

Much of the novel is spent showing how slavery is worse for women due to the constant threat of rape and sexual harassment.