Incidents

Life in the north does not live up to Linda's expectations, as she explicitly says during the book. She expects a land free of slavery and free of prejudice, but she only really finds something close to this utopia when she visits england. In the north however, there is still much prejudice and several of the limitations of slavery continue to exist even in the free states. Blacks are required to ride in second-class compartments even if they have the money to pay, and in several places Linda is treated unfairly because of her race. And as a final insult, Linda eventually learns that she is not even secure in her freedom in the free states. When the fugitive slave act is passed, Linda can be captured in the free states and brought back to slavery. Linda is afraid for her life and her freedom until she eventually wins it by being purchased for three hundred dollars. However, even now Linda has mixed feelings because she had sworn never to pay a slaveholder for the freedom she believed she had been given by God. She becomes secure in her freedom, but knows it is only because she was bought by a friend and not because God willed it so.