Language is used every day to express one’s emotions, but can language be used in a way that can help explain reality accurately? The interaction between language and reality goes hand in hand as certain words set the standards in society as a way of life. Such treatments become a norm when used constantly, which then points out the current situation of those individuals being told at; which in most cases is usually negative. Words are the way the world communicates with each other and humans know that it can be a powerful tool used to create revolutions. Words are so potent, that it can lead to sparks an emotion inside the individual that encourages them to speak up and let the whole world know what is wrong with their situation. In Incidents …show more content…
For Linda, language will be the window for preconditioned emancipation. To begin, language itself is a large part of Linda’s oppression as it has functioned to keep slaves disempowered and imprisoned. The slavery system enforces the idea that slaves are not human beings, that they do not exist within society and utilizes terms directed at them to make them feel useless. Since childhood, Linda has “encountered cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment,” (Jacobs 10) and has seen how that action has had a negative effect, not just physically, but also mentally on the slaves. Repeatedly telling the slave that they are worthless, causes the slave to think that they really are because that is all that they are told in their lifetime. Dr. Flint, the slaveholder, “thought he (Linda’s father) had spoiled his children, by teaching them to feel that they were human beings. This was blasphemous doctrine for a slave to teach; presumptuous in him, and dangerous to the masters” (Jacobs 10). Anyone who taught any slave how to read and write was considered as a crime to do.