Final answer:
Harriet Jacobs is haunted by the memory of her master's continuous sexual harassment and abuse attempts, as well as the broader context of violence against enslaved women and their families.
Step-by-step explanation:
The memory that haunts Harriet Jacobs for many years, as narrated in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is the relentless sexual abuse and predatory behavior of her master, which she successfully resisted. Her narrative addresses the terror of sexual violence used by slaveholders as a method to maintain control and assert their power. The trauma Jacobs describes regarding the sexual exploitation of enslaved women, the disregard for their ability to consent, and the deliberate psychological torment inflicted upon enslaved men by forcing them to witness such acts have left a profound and haunting impact.
Harriet Jacobs also discusses the broader societal issues of the time, where such cruelty was a common and brutal reality for the enslaved. Memories of this nature are not easily forgotten and can torment an individual for years. Jacobs' candid recount of her experiences and her fierce determination to protect her autonomy, to the extent that any semblance of choice was possible, reflect the immense psychological burden that persisted long after the physical situation changed.