The Unacknowledged Legacy of 19 th Century Slave Narratives
Enslaved women could not be mothers and have families like white families : “ Moreover , my mistress , like many others , seemed to think that slaves had no right to any family ties of their own ; that they were created merely to wait upon the family of the mistress ” ( Jacobs 34 ). Inherent in the outraged mother archetype is contradiction — part of the outrage is directed toward the denial of motherhood . This contradiction plays out during a moment of maternal sacrifice , when mother is separated from child . For most enslaved women , separation was at the hands of slave traders , or such a threat prompted an escape attempt . For others , like Jacobs , they fled not the auction block but sexual abuse they could no longer bear . Either way , unless the slave trade prompted an immediate escape attempt together , families were separated . The relationship an outraged mother has with her children is characterized by loss and distance ; the mother loves her children , but they feel abandoned or forgotten . The eventual reunion is bittersweet : “ Raising her head , [ Ellen ] said , inquiringly , ‘ You really are my mother ?’ I told her I really was ; that during all the long time she had not seen me , I had loved her most tenderly ; and that now she was going away , I wanted to see her and talk with her , that she might remember me ” ( Jacobs 115 ). Unlike the articulate hero ’ s triumphs , the outraged mother experiences irretrievable loss — to save her children , their relationship must suffer .
In The Handmaid ’ s Tale , Bruce Miller borrows from the outraged mother archetype . June ’ s story opens with her family ’ s failed escape attempt . June , a white woman , is separated from Hannah , her mixed-race daughter . The scene — a woman clutching her child to her chest , fleeing white men and their guns — is a thinly-veiled homage to slave narratives . That separation motivates June ; she wants to be reunited with Hannah and to escape Gilead together , though staying means she
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