The Bondwoman's Narrative

Mrs. Wheeler, still angry about the makeup incident, criticizes Hannah for taking too long with Lizzy. The Wheelers and Hannah travel to North Carolina on a ship. Mrs. Wheeler complains of desperate men seeking office, and Hannah notes the irony, given Mr. Wheeler’s failures. They arrive at Mr. Wheeler’s plantation in Wilmington, which harvests cotton and rice, amongst other things.

Many enslaved laborers service the fields. They live in huts on the rear of the property in crowded, fetid slums. Hannah marvels that they haven’t died there. Many of these huts are “older than the nation, and had been occupied by successive generations of slaves” (222). The inhabitants of the huts seem nihilistic: “[T]hey know nothing, care for nothing, and hope for nothing” (222). They eat little, wear rags, and toil all day in the fields.

Mr. Wheeler treats his enslaved people poorly because he does not consider it worthwhile to worry too much over their condition and demands only that the enslaved people are kept alive enough to work. He prefers to focus his attention on holding public offices. The enslaved people in the house are in better condition for the sake of appearances. One enslaved woman in particular, Maria, was Mrs. Wheeler’s favorite before and now resents Hannah’s arrival. Hannah at once considers her an enemy. At first, Hannah tries to befriend Maria, but to no end. Gradually, Maria returns to Mrs. Wheeler’s favor.

One day, Mrs. Wheeler calls Hannah into her apartment. She shouts at Hannah, accusing her of spreading the embarrassing makeup story around the estate. She calls herself a fool for having ever “retained a viper in my family” (224) Hannah smiles at the accusation, which only makes Mrs. Wheeler angrier. She throws a chair at Hannah, who pleads innocence and begins to cry. Despite Hannah’s pleas for clemency, Mrs. Wheeler sends her to the fields to work, as “those brutalized creatures in the cabins are fit companions for one so vile” (225). The person enslaved in the field, Bill, is to become Hannah’s husband.

Hannah cannot accept a marriage to Bill, and she views self-liberation as her only option. Hannah believes that marriage while enslaved is impossible and has ignored all such advances in her life. She opens her pocket bible, a gift from Aunt Hetty, and reads about Jacob fleeing from Esau, taking this to be a sign to liberate herself. She hatches a plan.

The next morning, she places herself under the command of the overseer. She works in the fields until her fingers blister and bleed. Bill offers to help, and Hannah sends him away. The overseer tells Bill to take Hannah to the cabins, and she is too weary to resist. Stepping inside the cabin, it is stinking and filthy. Other enslaved women treat Hannah with contempt, and one hits her; Bill chases the other away with violence.

Hannah whispers to another enslaved woman that she is going to the house and leaves quickly. She hides in the bushes until dark and then enters the house. There, in her old room, she has made a man’s suit. She prepares as quietly as possible, slips into the costume, and disguises herself as a man.

Hannah runs until morning. She finally stops to rest and hopes that no one will notice her absence for a while; those in the house would believe her to be in the fields and vice versa. After falling asleep, she wakes up in the late morning. She milks a passing cow and eats berries. Heading north, her journey is “uninteresting,” so she does not describe her slow progress.

As she passes people in her disguise, Hannah tells them that she is a destitute orphan. The story works and sympathetic strangers gift her food and clothing. One woman asks Hannah if she has seen a self-emancipated person and then holds up “a paper on which was delineated my exact size and figure, in female apparel” (232). The woman says men have been searching for this person. Taking up her hat, Hannah nervously sets on her way again.

Encountering a river, Hannah wades down half a mile to throw off any dogs tracking her scent. She steals a pair of boots and marks the passing days by knotting a piece of rope. After two weeks, she hears voices while walking in the dark. Hannah sees two people, a man and a woman. They are preparing to rest; one has a fever. Hannah falls asleep nearby. When she wakes, she sees the eyes “of a black man fixed on me with the most intense expression of wonder, apprehension, and curiosity” (234). The man and woman from before tell her their story. They are a brother and sister, traveling from the frontier of South Carolina. They achieved self-emancipation when their enslaver sold the sister to a new enslaver in Texas, and the brother, Jacob, could not bear to be apart from her.

Hannah, Jacob, and the sister escape the rain in a small hut. The sister remains gripped by a fever, and Jacob worries that she will not make it to the north. Hannah leads them in prayer. The woman dies as the sun rises. Hannah and Jacob tend to the body the best they can. Jacob leaves to collect berries to eat and is gone for a long time. Hannah stays for hours with the dead body, growing more and more nervous. The worries make it “the longest night of [Hannah’s] existence” (240). Eventually, she falls asleep and has nightmares, during which she hears a voice calling her name. Waking up, Hannah hears that same voice. She responds. Jacob appears from the trees. He had become lost in the night. They seal up the hut with the body inside and resume their journey north.

Hannah travels with Jacob for many days, but he does not figure out her disguise. He comes to love her as a “younger brother,” and Hannah appreciates his company. One night, they reach a narrow stream and search for a boat to cross. They find one beside a cabin that has a crying baby inside. As they loosen the boat’s ropes, a light appears in the cabin. A dog rushes toward them, followed by a volley of gunshots. Jacob groans and falls into the boat, which begins to drift downstream with Hannah inside. Jacob is dead, and the boat drifts down the river to a dangerous spot. Hannah falls into the water and loses consciousness.

Hannah wakes up in great pain and crawls from the water. She calls out to a passing woman, who responds; Hannah instantly recognizes the voice of Aunt Hetty and cries tears of joy. Aunt Hetty invites Hannah into her home but must leave to fetch food and a way of carrying Hannah. There is one condition: Hannah must continue to hide her identity. Hannah believes this to be unfeasible so asks Aunt Hetty to find her a hiding place. Hetty agrees. Hetty returns after a short while, bringing food. Hetty reveals that she and her husband were jailed for teaching Hannah to read. After their release, they found a new home, but Uncle Siah recently died.

After dark, Hetty takes Hannah to the cottage that she shares with a young girl named Anna. Hannah stays for several weeks. Hetty advises that Hannah resume her female attire and head for New Jersey. She writes several letters of introduction for Hannah to use when she arrives. Hetty even gives Hannah a small amount of money. After initially refusing, Hannah reluctantly accepts.

Hannah says goodbye to Aunt Hetty and heeds her advice. She rides a busy, crowded steamboat, but feels alone. She overhears two men discussing the death of “a man of no principle” (248). It is Mr. Trappe, who has died by the sons of one of the women he tried to scam. The sons shot him in the head, “his schemes of wealth and ambition had suddenly terminated” (251).

Hannah escapes the life of freedom she’d dreamed of, calling it “all [her] fancy had pictured it to be” (252). After meeting Hetty’s friends, she lives in a small cottage and keeps a school for Black children. Hannah has also tracked down her mother, who now lives with her in New Jersey. The two had met accidentally, fate conspiring to bring them together. Both women prayed when the truth became clear.

Hannah has a husband who sits at her side while she writes. He is a Methodist preacher and has always been a free man. Among Hannah’s neighbors are Lotty and Lotty’s husband. Finally, Hannah confesses, she has found happiness.