Autobiographical works from the late 19th century which aim to relate the slave experience are, most commonly a call to awareness or a story of perseverance in the face of adversity. No doubt, in publishing these kinds of works the authors mean to encourage and inspire others in their situation but also to expose the horrors of slavery by publishing and illustrating them as best they can through words. But, with the slave experience being so varied and complex, it's emotionally taxing or even impossible to communicate such an experience through words. Harriet Jacobs makes it very clear in the foreword of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl that the desire to share and relive such an experience by writing it down is not one that comes easy, but one that she felt the duty to bring light to. The events of slavery are so complex that it becomes impossible for most people, even after having read an autobiography, to grasp the full picture of the slave experience. But th...