In Freeman’s paper, she discusses how Jacobs/Linda may be alluding to rape from Dr. Norcom/Flint if the reader was to read in between the lines. If looking at it this closely, it could also be assumed that Mr. Sands also raped her. Jacobs had already stated previously that she only ever had one love and that was the free black man she was forbidden to marry. Sleeping with Mr. Sands was not due to love between the two, but more out of necessity for Jacobs/Linda's plan for survival. Mr. Sands had to know her motives, if not exactly her plan then at least that she hoping to gain something from it, and took advantage of her vulnerability. Her choice to sleep with Mr. Sands was really just an illusion of agency she gave to herself during a time when she had no control over her life. If she wanted to ensure that she would not have to be put in an even more …show more content…
Flint’s child, then Linda may have believed that sleeping with Mr. Sands would call his paternity into question and potentially offer the child some safety. Every other premature baby mentioned in the book died, however Benny survives, which hints that maybe he was conceived earlier and wasn’t premature, which could have been because he was Dr. Flint’s child. By having there be question in the paternity of the child, Linda would have been able to triumph in claiming Mr. Sands as the father of her child (something taboo in itself of the time) and using the consent of sleeping with him to prove and also erase any non-consent to Dr. Flint. Having been raped by her master may have been a part of the reason for changing everyone’s name in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. If Jacobs publicly accused Norcom/Flint, who was a prominent member of the community and had influence even in the North, of rape in her novel, there may have been those that knew him that would think “but he would never do that” and therefore not believe the rest of her novel, or try to also tear it down in the eyes of