Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Chapter 32 Summary & Analysis

In New York, Linda and Fanny are overwhelmed by the confusion of the train station. An untrustworthy cab driver proposes to drive them through the city in the back of a cart, which Linda finds unsuitable, and only with great difficulty do they manage to reclaim their trunks from him and find a better conveyance. Fanny goes to a boardinghouse while Linda seeks out a friend from the south, who is going to help her find Ellen.

The friend takes Linda to Brooklyn, where another black woman from their area is living. On the street, she recognizes a teenager who used to live near her family but came north years ago. She’s shocked to find that the younger girl accompanying her, whom she barely recognizes, is Ellen. Mother and daughter embrace eagerly, but Linda is disturbed to see that Ellen looks shabby and neglected.

Ellen has to run an errand for Mrs. Hobbs, but she tells her mother to come to the house the next day. In the morning Linda writes to Mrs. Hobbs, wondering how to present herself to the family without revealing that she’s just escaped from the South and has been sheltered by her family. She decides to say that she’s just arrived from Canada, reassuring the reader that she detests “subterfuges” and never lies except when it’s unavoidable.

Mrs. Hobbs cordially invites Linda to the house, and she’s able to speak further with her daughter. Ellen says that she’s been treated well, but it’s obvious she’s fibbing and she’s anxious to live with Linda as soon as possible. She hasn’t been sent to school and can barely read, although she’s nine. Linda hates to think of how long it will be before she has enough money to make a home for Ellen.

As Linda prepares to leave, Mrs. Hobbs tells her “coolly” that Mr. Sands has given Ellen to her daughter, as “a nice waiting maid when she grows up.” Linda doesn’t respond, but she’s furious at the woman’s disregard for her motherly claim on her daughter. She knows that Mr. Hobbs has recently lost most of his fortune, and she suspects that they are preparing to return to the South and want to keep Ellen as a valuable slave. She concludes that Mr. Sands has broken his promise to free the children.

Feeling it necessary to legally free herself as soon as possible, Linda writes to Dr. Flint and Emily Flint asking him to sell her to Grandmother. She also seeks out William, who has moved to Boston. When she arrives in that city, however, she finds that he’s working on a whaling expedition. Returning to New York, she finds a letter from Dr. Flint reiterating his refusal to sell her unless she returns to the South first.