Jacobs discusses the abuse and resulting .
oppression she experiences from Mrs. Flint, who feels self-pity for her husband's licentiousness, .
but no empathy for the author, her husband's victim. To get Jacobs away from Mrs. Flint, Dr. .
Flint builds a cottage for the slave girl four miles from town. Later Jacobs, in order to protect .
herself from Dr. Flint, develops a relationship with Mr. Sands, a white, unmarried lawyer. By .
choosing Mr. Sands as a lover, Jacobs goes against the ideal image of womanhood and shows.
independence. Making this choice means that Jacobs willingly gives up her virginity outside her .
marriage.
The sexual harassment continues even after Jacobs bears two children by Mr. Sands. .
When the situation with Dr. Flint becomes intolerable, Jacobs leaves her children and runs away. She takes refuge in the small garret of her grandmother's house, located in the same town as Dr. .
Flint's residence. Jacobs spends the next seven years living in the garret in a space that was only .
nine feet by seven feet and three feet at its highest point. Finally, Jacobs is able to escape to .
the North, and her children eventually follow. During the next six years, Jacobs manages to .
support her while evading numerous attempts by Dr. Flint and his daughter to locate her and .
return her to slavery in the South. At the age of forty, Jacobs is purchased and then .
emancipated by Mrs. Bruce, a staunch abolitionist who is Jacobs" employer and friend.
Throughout her narrative, Brent contests any identities placed upon her by whites. Brent .
rebels against the "cult of true womanhood" (author, page), but she maintains a sense of feminism due to her trials and tribulations as a slave. She is clever. She also controls Dr. Flint by writing him letters that were posted from the north. Mr. Flint travels back and forth to the north but comes back without her. The role of women has left a significant image of femininity throughout the years.
