Degradation Inherent to Slavery

Ms. Jacobs' narrative focuses less on the slaves' poor quality of life than on the dehumanizing nature of slavery itself.

The author does tell the reader about slaves who are starved, overworked, and forced to face the elements with inadequate clothing and shelter, but she leads one to believe that poor living conditions, however unfortunate, are not the most significant part of the problem, and that simply improving the slaves' physical living conditions will not make the institution of slavery less oppressive or less evil.

Many times, the author tells the reader that she believes it is better to be poor than to live as a slave—even as a comfortable, well-fed/clothed/housed slave. While she admits that poverty can severely limit a person's options (and expresses pity for the impoverished people she sees in Europe), she still believes that the poor individual...