Comparison of Harriet Jacob's Autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Henry Thoreau's Walden

In Harriet Jacobs's autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl she is confined in a cramped space for seven years, in Henry D. Thoreau's Walden he lives away from society for two years. Both of these authors form relationships with the community around them despite such isolation in their lives. The reasons and circumstances surrounding the isolations are distinctly diverse; however there are many parallels that can be drawn from their separate experiences that are essentially much deeper than the differences that immediately appear on the surface.

The first major difference between the two texts occurs within the relationship between Jacobs and Thoreau's reasons for isolation, and relationships with their communities. Thoreau begins his novel with, "When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months" (Thoreau, 1). It is immediately apparent that Thoreau's isolation is by choice. This willing isolation affects his relationship with his community. His reasoning for his isolation was so he could live away from society, for this reason he as very little contact with his community. He does not see his family although he does talk about his wife and brother's. He has few visitors, and spends most of his time reflecting on the beauty of the land. Thoreau does defend himself stating that, "I think that I love society as much as most, and am ready enough to fasten myself like a bloodsucker for the time to any full-blooded man that comes in my way. I am naturally no hermit, but might possibly sit out the sturdiest frequenter of the bar-room, if my business called me hither" (Thoreau, 94). Thoreau talks of many visitors, however his most frequent visitor was a man by the name of William Emery Channing, but they did not have what one would describe as a friendship.

Jacobs did not live nearly as freely or comfortably as Thoreau did. "A small shed had been added to my grandmother's house years ago. Some boards were laid across the joists at the top, and between these boards and the roof was a very small garret, never occupied by anything but rats and mice...To this hole I was conveyed as soon as I entered the house. The air was stifling; the darkness total" (Jacobs, 114). Jacobs did not have the freedom that Thoreau was accustomed to. Their isolations were so different that they might as well have been represented by two separate words. Due to the differences in their isolations Jacobs did not have the same relationship with her community. She had very little contact with the community. The only human contact she had was with her grandmother. She was able to view her children through a small hole she made in the attic, and she saw and spoke to her grandmother through a concealed trap-door. "I suffered for air, even more than for light" (Jacobs, 114). Jacobs is living in a confined space, but she has more personal relationships with her family members than it appears Thoreau maintained. He was free to roam, and spent his days in the woods breathing in fresh air and standing upright, while Jacobs spent her time laying down in the darkness, barely breathing.

The next difference between the two texts regards those they view as allies, and those who they view as opposition. Thoreau does not form friendships when he is living on Walden Pond. He knows many of the residents of the woods, and forms quasi-relationships, but he does not every let anyone get too close. Thoreau's constant contemplation allowed for him to stay somewhat aloof. At one point in his novel Thoreau says, "I have had twenty-five or thirty souls, with their bodies, at once under my roof, and yet we often parted without being aware that we had come very near to one another" (Thoreau, 94). Outwardly it appears that he is talking about their physical bodies not becoming close to each other, but the nearness he is talking about ties into his lack of deep relationships. Thoreau's greatest ally would be Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thoreau never has direct contact with Emerson in the book but Emerson is the owner of the property that Thoreau resides on. Emerson is what makes it possible for Thoreau to pursue his dream of spending some time alone with nature. Additional allies would include Alex Therien- a local who is very simple, and makes Thoreau appreciate even more greatly the naturalness of life. Thoreau does not have any opposition in the sense of what many define opposition to be. A possible conflict could be his relationship with John Field. Field is an Irish laborer who provides shelter to Thoreau during a storm. Thoreau somewhat insults Field in lecturing him on ways to avoid poverty, and the importance of hard work. Thoreau later comments that he blames Fields' laziness on his Irish background.

Thoreau's treats his allies as people that he can live with, but can just as simply live with out. Contrastingly is Jacobs's relationship with her allies. Her most important ally is her grandmother, who is ultimately responsible for her livelihood. "I heard from Uncle Phillip, with feelings of unspeakable joy and gratitude, that the crisis was passed and grandmother would live. I could now say from my heart, "God is merciful. He has spared me the anguish of feeling that I caused her death" (Jacobs 124). Jacobs's grandmother has risked and sacrificed so much for her, and consequently is her most important ally. Another possible ally of Jacob's would be her children. They do not directly speak to her, but Jacobs says, ""Even slave mothers try to gladden the hearts of their little ones on that occasion. Benny and Ellen had their Christmas stockings filled. Their imprisoned mother could not have the privilege of witnessing their surprise and joy. But I had the pleasure of peeping at them as they went into the street with their new suits on" (Jacobs 118). Jacobs's considers them one of her greatest allies because they gave her hope to continue on. Once again even Thoreau's opposition is not the greatest of problems. His opposition is existent merely because he insulted a neighbor, while Jacobs's opposition is a cruel and violent man who will kill her and her family if he finds her. "Dr. Flint had not given me up. Every now and then he would say to my grandmother that I would yet come back, and voluntarily surrender myself; and that when I did, I could be purchased by my relatives or any one who wished to buy me" (Jacobs 128). Jacobs is being pursued by Dr. Flint who will have no mercy on her if he finds her. Her opposition is a much greater danger than that of any opposition Thoreau faces.

The final difference in the texts of Thoreau and Jacobs is once again regarding their isolation. Thoreau's relationship with his living condition is by choice. He values the simple life and choices to live off in the woods for two years in the simplest of conditions. Thoreau also wants to prove that society is not the only place to live. He is fixated with living naturally, and even goes as far to say that, "...I would rather suffer evil the natural way. A man is not a good man to me because he will feed me if I should be starving, or warm me if I should be freezing, or pull me out of a ditch if I should ever fall into one" (Thoreau, 50). Thoreau's isolation and natural way of living is so deliberate it almost makes one question his sanity.

Jacobs's relationship with her living condition was not one of choice, but of historical circumstance. She is forced into hiding in her grandmothers attic after her hiding space at the home of her mistress is discovered by a fellow slave and she is forced to move. Jacobs's describes her hiding space and reveals that the highest part of the ceiling was no taller than three feet. She can not stand in her isolation while Thoreau has all the freedom in the world to move about as he pleases.

After discussing all of the differences between the two texts it is hard to imagine that there are in fact parallels. The greatest parallel causes all the differences to be trivial. Basically the greatest similarities are the meanings that Jacob's and Thoreau take from their relationship with their isolation to those around them. At one point in Walden, Thoreau says "As I came home through the woods with my string of fish, trailing my pole, it being now quite dark, I caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across my path, and felt a strange thrill of savage delight, and was strongly tempted to seize and devour him" (Thoreau,). Thoreau becomes more appreciative of nature and everything in it, down to a woodchuck that crosses in front of him (even though his intentions were to eat it, he still takes notice of it, which he may not have done prior to his experience at Walden Pond). Jacobs's isolation has a similar affect on her. "For the lat time I went up to my nook. Its desolate appearance no longer chilled me, for the light of hope had risen in my soul. Yet even with the blessed prospect of freedom before me, I felt very sad at leaving forever that old homestead, where I had been sheltered so long by the dear old grandmother; where I had dreamed my first young dream of love; and where, after that had faded away my children came to twine themselves so closely round my desolate heart" (Jacobs, 155). Despite everything she went through she still has happy memories of her home, and appreciates everything she went through. Ultimately, Jacobs's and Thoreau's novels send the message of appreciation; it does not matter if it is the appreciation of life, nature, wildlife, or family just as long as one appreciates.

Thoreau's and Jacobs's isolations were extremely different on the surface, but on the inside left them with the same life lessons. Their isolation led them to have long stretches of time where they could internally reflect and learn more about themselves than they ever felt was humanly possible.

Works Cited

Jacobs, Harriet Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002

Thoreau, Henry David Walden.

New York City: W. W. Norton and Company, 1992