Chapter 28: Aunt Nancy

Chapter 28:

Aunt Nancy

Summary: In this chapter Linda described the life and death of her Great-Aunt Nancy. She wrote about how overworked she was and how much of a tool she was treated as by her masters. She had many children but, due to the fact that she was given little to no rest during both the day and the night, none of her children survived. When she died, Linda's grandmother became very devastated and distraught. She begins to come to the place wherein Linda was hidden to find consolation and speak to her.

Importance: This chapter showed just how much of a load Aunt Martha had to bear. She had to watch over Linda's children, keep Linda hidden away in her home, keep Dr. Flint at bay and on top of everything else, she had to bear the loss of her last daughter. While all of the other chapters were devoted to Linda and what she had to go through, this one focused mainly on Aunt Martha and her burdens.

Connection to Theme: Aunt Nancy was yet another victim of abuse on the psychological level. She was treated like an object, something whose only job was to wait hand and foot on the master should they ever need her, even if it were to happen to be in the dead of night. She was to sleep at the door of her master and jump to every call and order. Despite her years of faithful service, no rest was given to her which, after years of deprivation, proved to have a psychological affect on her overall performance.