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.

Chapter 27: New Destination for the Children

Chapter 27:

New Destination for the Children

Summary: In this chapter plans were being made to send Linda's children to different places; Ellen was to live with Mr. Sands' sister in Brooklyn, while Benjamin is to live with him and his new wife. Although the thought of not being able to see her own children bothered her, Linda knew that it was all in their best interests and lets them go. Before Ellen left however, Linda came out of hiding and went to spend the night with her to say her final goodbyes.

Importance:

Chapter 26: Important Era In My Brother’s Life

Chapter 26

Important Era In My Brother’s Life

Summary: William went with his master, Mr. Sands to Washington and regularly sent letters to his sister Linda talking about his journey and such. However the letters abruptly stopped coming and Linda started to wonder what happened to him. Mr. Sands told Linda that he ran away with abolitionists when he returned after getting married, but it was revealed that William actually escaped on his own.

Importance: William finally became truly free in this chapter. Being Mr. Sands' slave might have been better than being one for someone else, but it still wasn't the same as being completely free. William knew this and needed no convincing from abolitionists; escaping under his own free will.

Connection to Theme: Although he was not treated badly as Mr. Sands' slave, just the fact that he was still a slave served as a source of psychological abuse for him. It still made him feel lower than the white man and degraded him as well as emasculate him. He felt that it was only through his freedom that he would be released from it.

Chapter 25: Competition in Cunning

Chapter 25:

Competition in Cunning

Summary: In this chapter Linda matched her cunning nature against that of Dr. Flint. She wrote a letter to him addressed from a place in New York to trick him into thinking she was really there. She also wrote one addressed to Aunt Martha to throw him off her track even further. In response Dr. Flint then sent a letter to the mayor of Boston to find out if he had seen anyone who met Linda’s description.

Importance: This is yet another important chapter because it is in this that Linda exercises her cunning nature on Dr. Flint. She successfully proves his incompetence to catch her by tricking him into believing she is actually gone. This serves as a boost in confidence for her, knowing that she is better than him and can overcome his grip on her.

Connection to Theme: Psychological abuse was a technique used by Dr. Flint in this chapter on Linda's grandmother. To intimidate her, Dr. Flint would tell her that he was close to finding Linda and that he would bring her back. Due to the fact that this would only work with those with weak constitutions and those who were ignorant to the truth, this did not affect Linda's grandmother.

Chapter 24: The Candidate for Congress

Chapter 24:

The Candidate for Congress

Summary: Mr. Sands in this chapter ran for congress and, despite Dr. Flint's desperate efforts to beat him, won. In an effort to ensure her children's emancipation from slavery, Linda risked being caught to beg Mr. Sands to do so before he left for Washington.

Importance: This, like all of the chapters before it, was an important chapter because it was when Linda asked Mr. Sands to liberate her children from slavery. Mr. Sands had promised her in the past, but because he had not gone through with his word as of yet, Linda felt compelled to make him promise once again.

Connection to Theme: Due to all that Linda had gone through, she found it extremely hard to trust even the closest of her companions which, in this case, included Mr. Sands, the father of her children. Linda wasn't a hateful person, but years of persecution and psychological abuse made her heart and mind selective as to where she put her trust. The main filter of this unfortunately was the color of their skin.

Chapter 23: Still in Prison

Chapter 23:

Still in Prison

Summary: Linda was still in her "prison" as she calls it and she described the trials she went through during the winter time. She described how she almost died from an illness, but after her brother got medicine from a doctor she was able to survive. She also described how her grandmother collapsed from the many months of anxiety and toil. During this time Linda's son Benny was also injured after being bitten by a dog. At the end of the chapter Linda's grandmother's illness passed and Benny healed from his wounds.

Importance: As if on cue, more trials came Linda's way. In this chapter Linda was put through three more trials which tested her endurance. Even as there seemed as though there was no letting up coming in the way of the amount of trials she had to go through, Linda proved herself strong yet again.

Connection to Theme: The affects of the psychological abuse on white people is evident in this chapter as well. This is displayed near the end when Sally told Mrs. Flint the reason why Benny couldn't walk. To this Mrs. Flint responded by saying that she was glad that it happened. She added that she wished that the dog had killed him as well and that Linda's day of returning by the mouths of dogs would come too. This showed how cruel and heartless slavery has made even the white people who lived through it.

Chapter 22: Christmas Festivities

Chapter 22:

Christmas Festivities

Summary: Linda described her time in hiding during Christmas in this chapter. She also described all of the festivities and rituals that went on during this time. As to ease any suspicion that Linda was actually hiding out there, her grandmother invited two special guests (the town Constable and a colored free man) into her house to have dinner.

Importance: This chapter was important because Linda described Christmas as being a joyful time for both blacks and whites. Despite the situation, everyone found this time to shed a positive light on their lives. 

Connection to Theme: I found the free black man who passed himself off as being white yet another display of the psychological abuses of slavery. Rather than being proud of his black ethnicity, he shunned it and found refuge in pretending to be something other than what he was. When faced with the reality that being who he truely was meant enduring years of persecution and pain, he decided to take the easier route and take sides with, what was through the eyes of the African Americans, the enemy.

Chapter 21: The Loophole of Retreat

Chapter 21:

The Loophole of Retreat

Summary: In this chapter Linda was taken to hide in a small shed provided for her at her grandmother's house. The shed was infested with rodents and insects but it was here that she stayed day and night for several long months. During this time she could see and hear her children as they played outside and inside the house, but was unable to communicate to them. She suffered many illnesses and even had to watch as Dr. Flint tried to bribe her whereabouts from her children who, at the time, knew nothing.

Importance: Linda's patience and endurance were tested to their limits in this chapter, which is why it is so important. As her children came within such close ranges of her, she had to fight every fiber of her being to avoid talking to them, something that, for a mother, was extremely hard for her to do. She wanted nothing more than to keep in contact with them, but at this point in time doing so would jeopardize her own safety as well as her children's and the lives of all those who aided her.

Connection to Theme: Linda knew all too well what was in store for her and all those associated with her escape if she revealed her hiding place to her children. She had seen it countless times before what had waited for those who escaped but were caught before reaching their freedom. She learned this through years of psychological abuse and did not want to become a victim of it.

Chapter 20: New Perils

Chapter 20:

New Perils

Summary: Under the charge of aiding Linda in her escape, Dr. Flint had her Uncle Philips arrested. After this, Jenny, one of the slaves who works in the same house Linda is hiding in, threatens to reveal her hiding spot. Linda is then set to meet up with a friend of Philips while disguised as a sailor. Peter takes her to hide in a swamp while they secure a hiding place for her. The next day she is taken to her grandmother’s house after blacking out.

Importance: This was very important because even though Linda achieved her goal of freeing her children, she still wasn’t out of danger herself. She still had to find a way to get herself out of the situation she was in, something she did not plan up to.

Connection to Theme: Not only did slaves have to fear the eyes of white people when escaping, but they also had to fear those of some blacks as well. In this chapter Linda was being threatened not by a white person but by a fellow black woman. This may be from years of psychological abuse wherein one may become conditioned to feel a certain way, even against their own kind.

Chapter 19: The Children Sold

Chapter 19:

The Children Sold

Summary: Dr. Flint came back from New York with no signs of finding or gaining any knowledge of Linda’s whereabouts. Mr. Sands tried to acquire William by buying him, but Dr. Flint’s stubborn disposition shoots it down. Later however Dr. Flint was tricked into selling William, Linda’s children and her aunt all to a slave trader representing Mr. Sands. Their removal from town was faked and they were released to Aunt Martha.

Importance: This was important in that it was Linda’s chance to achieve the main goal of her escape. She wanted nothing more than to have her children freed from slavery that she risked her own life to do so.

Connection to Theme: Linda did not want her children to face the trials she had to endure. The years of abuse both physically and psychologically drove her to making such a risky approach to reaching this goal.