Describe some of the challenges Linda Brent faced while she lived under Flint in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

The challenges that Linda Brent experienced in the Flint household are rooted in slavery's cruelty.

As early as the second chapter, Linda Brent gives glimpses of these challenges.  She talks about the "scanty wardrobe" that Mrs. Flint gives to her.  Additionally, Brent was "frequently threatened with punishment" even though she was so very young.  While she "could catch a bit of food," she was not given full meals.  These challenging realities remind the reader how slavery was predicated upon cruelty to even the smallest of children.

In Chapter 4, Brent details the challenge of living with the jealous Mrs. Flint. Her vengeful nature can be seen when she orders Linda to not wear her shoes because of the sound they make on the creaking floorboards. However, this was not the last in her display of power:

She then sent me a long distance, on an errand. As I went through the snow, my bare feet tingled. That night I was very hoarse; and I went to bed thinking the next day would find me sick, perhaps dead.

Mrs. Flint's cruel wrath proves to be a challenge for Linda while living in the Flint household.

However, the greatest challenge for Linda was the master of the house, Dr. Flint.  In chapter 5, Linda turns fifteen, representing "a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl."  She lives under constant sexual exploitation from Dr. Flint. This challenge took on different forms.  Some of it involved inappropriate speech, as Dr. Flint would "whisper foul words" to Linda.  It continued with his repeated reminders that she was "his property" and that she must "be subject to his will in all things."  Linda describes how such a challenge escalated over time:

She [The slave girl] listens to violent outbreaks of jealous passion, and cannot help understanding what is the cause. She will become prematurely knowing in evil things. Soon she will learn to tremble when she hears her master's footfall. She will be compelled to realize that she is no longer a child. If God has bestowed beauty upon her, it will prove her greatest curse.

Any time she voiced objection, Dr. Flint "swore" he would kill Linda if she "was not as silent as the grave."  The challenge of sexual exploitation is another dimension to slavery's cruelty.  It represents one of the most difficult challenges that Linda had to face while living under Flint.