Hegemony in Harriet Jacobs’ Narrative
Hegemony refers to the leadership of predominance over a particular group of people, which might exert undue influence on them hence compromising their essence. The natural position of being powerful in a family or social setting can make someone exercise ideological, social, or cultural dominance over their subjects. In the narrative, Harriet Jacobs describes several incidences in the life of a slave girl that is typical to hegemony.
First, Linda was sold to her master against her consent following the death of her mistress, who had hitherto been her caretaker since the demise of her mother when Linda was just 6. Remarkably, Linda describes herself as a born slave and has never found insight into freedom till later when she escaped slavery (Jacobs 33). Hegemony has been used in Harriet Jacobs’ narrative to describe the fact that slaves were sold off to their perceived masters against their will.
The fact that Dr. Flint, a neighborhood physician purchases Linda for her young daughter, is demeaning. Secondly, the fact that families are being detached from one another has a significant impact on their social as well as emotional wellbeing. Consequently, they cannot prevent this imminent slavery shows undue dominance by these masters. For instance, a mother of seven is left devastated after all her children are sold to slavery. Furthermore, Flint’s brutality and cruelty are evident as he tries to coerce Linda into intimacy (Jacobs 43).
Hegemony is also used to represent male dominance in the white community. Both black and white women are surviving at the mercy of their white husband’s patriarchal system. White men exercise complete control over their wives, who, in turn, quench their anger on slave girls instead of confronting their husbands who are blatantly on the wrong for sexual misconduct (Jacobs 57). Racial dominance is evident in the narrative since the blacks were seen and treated like slaves for a very long time. Even the ones who were eventually freed were not accorded similar rights and freedom to their white counterparts. They were restricted from accessing public utilities, from voting or holding a public office. They are further stereotyped as deceitful, which is entirely racial since Dr. Flint, who is white, also used deceitful nature to lie to his wife. Consequently, Linda learns to judge by actions rather than race.
Works Cited
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. BookRix, 2014.