Chloe Maier
Essay Two
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Harriet Jacob’s Incident’s in the Life of a Slave Girl is one of the most memorable and unique accounts of life as a slave. In her narrative, Jacobs most notably faces obstacles that are intrinsically female; such as sexual abuse and maternal duties as a woman. Jacob’s struggles instigated by gender are a prevalent part of her account; however , Ann Taves in her essay “Spiritual Purity and Sexual Shame : Religious Themes in the Writing of Harriet Jacobs“, suggests that there are also other unique qualities in Jacob’s narrative. Taves asserts that one of the underlying themes of Jacob’s writing were her struggles and, albeit indirect, interpretation of spirituality and religion in relation to her sexual shame, essentially the concepts are intertwined and integral to each other. Taves article brings up interesting points regarding Jacob’s spirituality and shame; however, it does not effectively present the reader with a clear or complete analysis of religion in Jacob’s work.

In “Spiritual Purity and Sexual Shame : Religious Themes in the Writing of Harriet Jacobs“, Taves begins by stating that Jacob’s narrative was one of the few that gave insight and furthered understanding of the “diversity and complexity” (Taves) of religion and its role within the world of slavery. The reader then finds out that Jacobs ” appropriated Christianity critically”. Taves suggests that Jacob’s found it hard to connect with the established church as her hours of worship were sporadic and Jacobs disagreed with the church on their positions on slavery; Taves asserts that Jacob’s spirituality and ideas on purity derive mainly from her relationships with her deceased mother, grandmother, and her first mistress.

The author then goes on to discuss the role of shame, stemming from Jacob’s accounts of her immoral actions of having sexual relations outside of marriage in order to save herself from some of the confines of slavery. Taves then discuss the link between shame ad autonomy and believes that connection to be applicable to Jacob’s situation. Jacob’s master threatened her autonomy which drove her to shamefully commit the act of having sexual relations outsides of marriage, the revelation of which would garner disapproval from her grandmother and even more feelings of shame. Taves then discusses the result of Jacob’s shame, not only her actions in the narrative, but of the long-term consequences. It becomes known that Jacob’s actions haunted her for the rest of her life, also that she was reluctant to write her account because it was painful to bring up her shame. Jacob’s also had a hard time explaining the circumstance to her children as well as her brother, and even felt shame at the baptism of her children for she had broke the cycle of “purity that had spanned the two generations before her (Taves).

Taves beings to tie in the notion of purity in to the analysis stating that throughout Jacob’s narrative she “upheld the ideal of sexual and religious purity” (Taves). Taves presents the idea that Jacob’s spirituality and upheaval of purity played an impertinent role in her life, allowing her power against her master and the unmarried father of her children. However, Jacob’s religious convictions regarding purity also served as a detriment when she was writing her narrative. The author states that Jacob’s was still haunted with her decisions to become “impure” and have sexual relations with Flint, and worries that she will be judged for her actions and feels that women that women that were slaves should “not be judged but that same standards of other women” (Taves).

The author then focuses the attention back on to a more general religious analysis. Taves discusses the role that the native African religions might have had a hand in forming the framework of Jacob’s Christianity. Also, the author points out that differences in native West African religions and European religion are not that different in terms of their emphasis on purity, a fundamental theme of Jacob’s narrative. Taves writes further on Jacob’s and her unrelenting shame over her actions which ultimately leads Taves to her last point. In closing, Taves states that Jacob’s wrote her narrative in the style and intent of a public confession, and that it was up to the reader to decide if she was worthy of “pity or contempt” . The author then closes the essay by stating that the narrative did have elements of a confession, and within that framework one can deduce that Jacob’s never fully got over the shame and impurity of her actions.

Response
Taves article certainly provided more in depth insight into the intention and the aftermath of Harriet Jacob’s narrative. The article itself was disjointed, unconnected, and seemed to have random interjections that made no sense whatsoever littered across the essay. Although, the article is all over the place, there was still some valuable analysis presented. Jacobs did have an underlying theme of shame in her narrative, I noticed specifically that might be the reason why she never divulges any details on her sexual relations throughout the literary work. I agree with Taves notion that Jacob’s narrative was unique in that it did contain some elements that related to religion and spirituality, but I found her analysis between the relation of West African religions and Davis’s own subconscious Christianity to be a little far fetched and unnecessary to the article as a whole. I agreed more with the notion that Jacob’s derived most of her spirituality from the female relationships in her life, most noticeably with her Grandmother. This concept is illustrated when Jacob’s feels intense shame telling her Grandmother of her impure action, as her morals and beliefs about purity were created and fostered by her Grandmother.

One of the other big questions one has when reading Jacob’s narrative is how to perceive Jacobs: as a fallen woman, or as a desperate, hopeless women taking any action she can to combat the horrors of slavery. Taves provides a thorough telling of how this question haunted Jacob’s herself. I was unaware the extent of the shame Jacob’s felt which led to so much reluctance when publishing her narrative. Jacob’s seemed to not want the perception of a fallen women, so she believed it right that slaves should not be judged in the manner that normal women are. Jacob’s continued regret over her action, fully developed and validated Taves theory of shame and purity playing an integral role in Jacob’s narrative and life.

In closing, there is much knowledge and understanding to be gained by reading this article; however, the thoughts on religion and it’s role in Jacob’s narrative is are not complete nor analyzed clearly. After reading the article, I have come to realize the different layers of complexity in the slave narratives. The uniqueness of Jacob’s narrative is not just the fact that her gender affected her tenure as a slave, but also the fact that her narrative exposes the complexity and importance of spirituality in a slave’s life. The revelation of Jacob’s continued torture over actions that helped set her free instigates interesting questions of moral standards in relation to slavery. As Taves states, the reader can decide how to perceive Jacob’s and her actions through an understanding and appreciation for the layers and complexities in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Citation: Spiritual Purity and Sexual Shame: Religious Themes in the Writings of Harriet Jacobs Author(s): Ann Taves Source: Church History, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Mar., 1987), pp. 59-72 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History