The Bondwomans Narrative

The Bondwoman's Narrative

The Bondwoman's Narrative is a manuscript written by Hannah Crafts, a slave from North Carolina. The book is the story of her life, written as she experiences it. She invites the reader into the minds and hearts of a slave as she tells of her personal experiences. She writes of the trials and tribulations of being enslaved, and how degrading it feels in such a situation. Hannah worked as a house slave, which may have been far less worst than working in the fields, but her life is far from comfortable. It's very interesting to learn that Hannah was of mixed blood, yet she was treated as poorly as any other slave because of her partial black background. Hannah writes about how horrible it is to be someone's property, and to have no protection in any way from insults, violence, or even death.

Many of the travesties that Hannah Crafts writes about are comparable to the horrible things Harriet Jacob's endured in her life. Jacobs writes in her book that she is frequently sexually assaulted by her master, and is constantly reminded of what her role in the world is, and that she will never be more than a slave. Both Crafts and Jacobs have a common, underlying theme in their works: fear. Slaves, and specifically slave women, live in a constant state of fear from their master and other cruel white people. Living their lives in constant fear makes them continue to submit to their master's orders and tightens the hold the owners have over their slaves.