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Ellen
Linda’s son and first child with Mr. Sands. Benny’s birth gives Linda, exhausted and overwhelmed by years of Dr. Flint’s harassment, a reason to live and a new sense of determination to escape slavery. He grows up to be a stalwart and intelligent boy; for example, although Linda doesn’t tell her children she’s hiding in the crawlspace, he deduces it for himself and keeps watch over the yard so that no one gets too near her refuge. Benny is purchased and freed by Mr. Sands and travels to New York to be reunited with his mother. He apprentices with a shipbuilder, but when his colleagues learn he’s mixed-race, he loses his job and joins a whaling expedition instead.
Benny 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 Benny or refer to Benny. 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:
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Chapter 29 Quotes
We knelt down together, with my child pressed to my heart, and my other arm round the faithful, loving old friend I was about to leave forever. On no other occasion has it ever been my lot to listen to so fervent a supplication for mercy and protection. It thrilled through my heart, and inspired me with trust in God.
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After seven years of hiding in a cramped garret in Grandmother’s shed, Linda is forced to take action and make a quick escape after an acquaintance spots her. Before she leaves, she kneels in her room to pray with Benny and Grandmother, savoring her last moments in the only home she’s ever known. This scene juxtaposes the family’s deep love and the home they’ve created with each other with the uncertainty and risk that awaits in the world outside. Linda uses this moment of domesticity to show that, for slaves, home life doesn’t actually provide meaningful security and protection. Moreover, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volupta
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.
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In one of the narrative’s last passages, Linda sums up her accomplishments and her hopes from the future. She has achieved her main goal, freedom, but she still faces many obstacles in building a life for her children. Here, she reminds the reader that the battle for racial equality doesn’t end with legal freedom but must strive against the discrimination and poverty that will persist after the abolition of slavery. Although Linda normally endorses traditional mores, in this passage she digresses somewhat, measuring her life not by marital happiness, but the attainment of freedom; for a woman of her time, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eli
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Benny Character Timeline in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
The timeline below shows where the character Benny appears in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Eleven: The New Tie to Life
Linda’s baby boy, Benny, grows older and stronger. Whenever she’s “most sorely oppressed” she takes comfort in watching him...
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Chapter Fourteen: Another Link to Life
The children are christened Benjamin (Benny) and Ellen; Linda gives them the surname of her father, who derived it from his...
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Chapter Fifteen: Continued Persecutions
When Linda responds sharply, Benny runs up and throws his arms around his mother, as if to protect her. Dr....
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...Flint that she is willing to go to the plantation. Enraged, he tells her that Benny will be sent to the fields and Ellen will be sold as soon as possible.
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Chapter Sixteen: Scenes at the Plantation
Linda leaves the next morning, accompanied by Ellen but leaving Benny, who is sick, with Grandmother. At the plantation, she has to leave Ellen with the...
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...the whole family gathers, crying to see her. She looks over her sleeping children and Benny wakes up, telling her he’s happy that they haven’t “cut off your head at the...
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Chapter Seventeen: The Flight
Before leaving the house to hide with a friend, she looks over Benny and Ellen, who are sleeping. They are truly defenseless, with a mother who can’t protect...
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Chapter Eighteen: Months of Peril
...soon, but he seems to want revenge more than money. He throws William, Aunt Nancy, Benny, and Ellen into the city jail and tells Grandmother that she will never see them...
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Chapter Nineteen: The Children Sold
...trader has left town, but he actually stops a few miles away and releases William, Benny, and Ellen to Uncle Phillip. He seems to think that the deception is a good...
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...like “the moaning of children.” For a minute, she thinks she sees the shadows of Benny and Ellen on the floor, and she becomes convinced that something bad has happened. The...
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Chapter Twenty-One: The Loophole of Retreat
...Flint goes to New York again, believing he’s discovered some new clue. When he returns, Benny (who doesn’t know where Linda is) sees him in the street and tells him he...
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...her and speculating that she’s in the free states. Dr. Flint often tries to bribe Benny and Ellen into divulging their mother’s whereabouts, but Ellen says nothing, and Benny tells him...
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Chapter Twenty-Two: Christmas Festivities
...slaves who fear separation on hiring day, which arrives just after the holidays. She hears Benny telling a friend that Santa Claus has brought his presents because his mother is away,...
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Chapter Twenty-Three: Still in Prison
...Linda feels helpless when her family encounters problems. One day, she sees a dog attack Benny in the yard but is unable to come to his assistance. Moreover, Grandmother becomes seriously...
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As Mrs. Flint leaves, she notices Benny’s wound and announces her wish that the dog had killed the boy, so she could...
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Chapter Twenty-Six: Important Era in My Brother’s Life
One afternoon, Linda hears Benny and Ellen asking Grandmother if they will ever see their mother again or live with...
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Chapter Twenty-Seven: New Destination for the Children
...two illegitimate children. Before she has the chance to do so, Mrs. Sands runs into Benny on the street and remarks on his good looks; Mr. Sands confesses that he is...
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...is shy and confused, but then she embraces Linda and says how much she and Benny have missed her. She is scared to leave her family and live among strangers, and...
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Chapter Twenty-Nine: Preparations for Escape
...in order to avoid being sold, and is hiding with her mother Aggie next door. Benny happened to catch a glimpse of her and told Grandmother, who warned him never to...
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...Jenny doesn’t have time to go to the Flints before she leaves. She asks for Benny to be brought to the shed and he confesses that he’s always suspected she was...
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Linda explains that she is going north and that if Benny is good, God will reunite them soon. As they are embracing, Grandmother comes in, bringing...
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Chapter Thirty-Three: A Home Found
...bitter time.” When holding Mary, whom she loves, Linda recalls the infancy of Ellen and Benny. One day, looking out the window, she sees a man in a sailor’s uniform and...
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Chapter Thirty-Four: The Old Enemy Again
...why, Linda goes to Boston for two weeks, writing to Grandmother that if she sends Benny north, he should go to Boston. One morning she wakes up to a knock on...
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Chattering away, Benny asks when Ellen is going to come live with them. He’s been to see her...
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...is unsuccessful. As soon as she knows he’s left, she returns to her job, leaving Benny with William in Boston. She enjoys her work and feels very secure in the Bruce...
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Chapter Thirty-Eight: Renewed Invitations to Go South
...finds herself fearing her own country. She finds Ellen making strides in her education, but Benny absent. He had been apprenticed to learn a trade, but when the other apprentices learn...
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Chapter Forty: The Fugitive Slave Law
William decides to move to California and takes Benny with him. Ellen is flourishing at school; everyone is very kind to her, especially when...
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Chapter Forty-One: Free At Last
...“my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage.” She rejoices that Benny and Ellen are safe both from slaveholders in the South and “the white people of...
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