Previous
Phillip
Linda’s daughter and second child with Mr. Sands. As a young girl, Ellen is sent to New York to live with Mr. Sands’s cousin, Mrs. Hobbs. Although she’s supposed to go to school and live with the family, she’s actually treated like a servant and poorly fed and clothed. She proves a collected and loyal daughter, warning her mother when Dr. Flint is coming to the city and leaving the Hobbs family as soon as possible. Ellen also helps her mother overcome her shame at having conceived children out of wedlock; when Linda confesses the secret of her paternity, she calmly replies that she doesn’t care who her father is, as her love for her mother is unchanged. Ellen’s response helps her mother realize that she’s not responsible for the sexual abuse she endured as a teenager, and characterizes the bonds between mothers and children as more important than romantic relationships.
Ellen Quotes in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen or refer to Ellen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 36
Quotes
I did not discover till years afterward that Mr. Thorne’s intemperance was not the only annoyance she suffered from…he had poured vile language into the ears of [Grandmother’s] innocent great-grandchild.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39
Quotes
I thought that if he was my own father, he ought to love me. I was a little girl then, and didn’t know any better. But now I never think any thing about my father. All my love is for you.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 41
Quotes
Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage….The dream of my life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ellen Quotes in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen or refer to Ellen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 36
Quotes
I did not discover till years afterward that Mr. Thorne’s intemperance was not the only annoyance she suffered from…he had poured vile language into the ears of [Grandmother’s] innocent great-grandchild.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39
Quotes
I thought that if he was my own father, he ought to love me. I was a little girl then, and didn’t know any better. But now I never think any thing about my father. All my love is for you.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 41
Quotes
Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage….The dream of my life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
