Human Rights

African-American Studies > Slavery
English > Analysis
Literature > Comparative Literature

Human Rights

A discussion of the restrictions of the basic human rights as depicted in "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs.

1,864 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how the divine human right exists as a blessing instilled upon each and every human being. It focuses on how the characters of Hugh Wolfe, in "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis, and Harriet Jacobs, in "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs, are both denied their basic human rights. It analyzes the circumstances in which each lived and their attempt to change their destiny by seizing the moment. It shows how they are both perfect examples of how general welfare, the blessings of liberty and posterity, and basic human rights are stolen from the meek and given to a blind, ruling society or class.

From the Paper:

"Another character that began with nothing and was restricted from her God given rights was Harriet Jacobs. Similarly to Hugh Wolfe, Harriet Jacobs a slave was restrained from her right to life, and as Wolfe seized his one and only opportunity for betterment by stealing money, Jacobs seizes her one and only opportunity to better her life. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiographical piece that offers a unique female prospective on the plight of slaves, especially female slaves during the Civil War. Being restricted her natural rights, Harriet Jacobs's fights against a society that judges individual societal roles by the color of her skin. In the 1850's, this determined the path in which her life would travel. A future, pre-destined even before her birth, morphed into a struggle for freedom and equality."