Choosing Her Own Fate

The narrative of slave girls is usually the same; remaining naive about the ill wills of slavery until the tender age of 15. It is at this age that they begin to experiencce the trials of girlhood. In which, they are "made" women by their masters and become the victims of jealous mistresses. Beauty becomes Harriet Jacob's greatest curse. She is subjected to the reading of letters that at first she pretended to not understand, but in her age and ability to read she could no longer remain ignorant to the content of the letters.Jacob's feared for her life nothing worse than to wake up with a jealous woman standing over you in the wake of the night. To spite her master Jacob's infringes upon the values her grandmother has instilled in her and she seeks the companionship of Mr.Sands, another white man. Though it seems wrong for her to be complicit in the exploitation of herself Jacob's has her reasons. She chooses her own fate to sleep with whom she pleases rather than being forced to sleep with her master. Jacob's goes to extreme measures to spite her master and evade his plan for her womanhood. Jacob bears 2 children with Mr.Sands in hopes of gaining freedom for her and her children. She thinks that her plan will be so despicable in the sight of her master that he would just sell her, however he doesn't. While Jacob's had an ulterior motive, deeming her virginity worth freedom her plan is unsuccessful. With such a high level of discontentment with her place in slavery Jacob's flees plantation life. She later returns and spends 7 years in a crawl space in her grandmother's attic. Jacob's is one of few slave girls that is successful in escaping the clutches of  slavery in her own unique way. Though in the end she doesnt truely feel free, her state of mind is free. She is no longer the victim of her master and mistress, that is freedom in itself. Jacob's chooses her own fate in much her journey through slavery to freedom.