ssence, he is entitled to nether. To have a child is only to provide the slaveowner with “an addition to his stock of slaves” (52) that could be torn away and sold at his leisure and to have a family is to live in fear of this day. Linda’s father’s “strongest wish was to purchase his children; but though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded” (9). He was denied the right to have his family and refused the possibility to purchase that on which decency could never put a price tag. Identification with family ties is a luxury that is just not afforded to the slave community. Even within Aunt Marthy’s house, the home of a free woman, family structure was not allowed to flourish. Since Dr. Flint “had the power of law on his side” (70), there was nothing to stop him from ravaging this so-called retreat and continuing his persecutions within. Therefore, how could one find refuge in a family or in a self that is not clearly defined by identity, but governed by uncertainty? Any chance for such an opportunity was embraced with an even more telling illustration of slavery’s “poisonous grasp” (64). This is most evident in Dr. Flint’s offer to build Linda her own private cottage away from the main house, a place where she and her children can live together. This offer cannot be benign as Dr. Flint is working from a reality that does not see Linda as a person who has the right to a family or a self. The notions of sexual and psychological abuse that would undoubtedly go on in this cottage serve to affirm the lascivious desires and powers of the slaveholder to dominate, break down, and eventually destroy all aspects of the family and self.Having explored the inevitable fate of a slave, there is but one assumption left – that the only outlet to freedom for a slave is freedom itself. However, like the previous false retre...
