How Does Laurie Anderson Present The Suffering In The Book Chain

To start with, Isabel and Curzon both had scars from a horrific event in their lives. Isabel has though to escape from her owner, Madam Lockton, from when she was sold to her. This time, she tried to escape but failed. Madam Lockton found where she was and took her to prison, where she would be trialled three days later. “‘You tried to run away and were beaten in the attempt.’”(Anderson 151). She was beaten a lot after she got captured and also got a punishment from the court. Her punishment was to be branded with the letter I. Every Time she would feel the cheek, she would remember the pain she felt, which

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel Chains, Anderson uses fictional characters to describe real life situations that some may have faced during the Revolutionary War. All these characters in the story are fighting for the same thing, freedom. The definition of freedom, however, varies for multiple characters in the story. Curzon, an African-American slave who sides with the rebels, is fighting with “my master and those he serves, the rebels, the Congress. We’re fighting for freedom from people like Lockton [a loyalist].” (p. 39) The main character of the story Isabel meets another African-American slave at a well who was taught that “if the British win, we’ll all be free.” (p. 165) For the other races

Many kids have not been to jail or experienced the loss of a close sibling or parent, and we do not understand the difficulty of being a slave. We can not even imagine that these terrible phenomena can occur. The book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson depicts two young, black slaves that have survived through the uprising of the Revolutionary War, the immoralities of slavery, and the tragic loss of family members.Throughout the book, Curzon and Isabel suffer through multiple events that have made them chained both figuratively and physically, but the couple of juvenile slaves grow more determined to receive freedom after they go through their hardships.

The novel, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a young slave named Isabel set during the American Revolution. The American Revolution was a fight between the Patriots and Loyalists for freedom. Both the Patriots and Loyalists had different ideas of what freedom meant to them. Although it seemed like only the two sides fighting there were others who were also fighting for freedom, slaves, but they fought in a different way. During this time it was very difficult for one person to be able to have the freedom that they either wanted for themselves or for the group they were fighting with. Each of these groups had their own very different ideas of freedom and liberty.

The book Chains takes place during the Revolutionary War and is set in colonial New York. The main character, Isabel, is a slave for a Loyalist family. She and her sister were sold to them after her mother and her owner pass away. She makes friends with another slave, Curzon Bellingham, and is told to spy on her influential master. She operates in secret and constantly fears her owner, Madam Lockton, will catch her. She faces many troubles throughout the book, including her five year old sister being sold to an owner in another country. The book’s title signifies Isabel’s struggle with her independent soul being chained down by the others around her.

devices throughout his narrative to show the reader why slavery was such a horrific time. He was very

Imagine living in a world where you are “chained between two nations” at the age of 13. You want your freedom, but on the other hand who are you loyal to? Your country or the rebels? It’s a hard choice for someone like Isabelle's character to face, but she stands strong and keeps her head held high. The word “chains” in the book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson is used as a metaphor throughout the whole book.

The book is significant in the sense that it gives even the current generation the knowledge of slavery, how it

Bellingham does this by somehow hurting Isabel. Like after Isabel tried to run away, Bellingham made her wear a collar that beeped every time she crossed a certain part of the property. Curzon thinks that it is not fair to have Isabel wear the collar. Also after Bellingham recaptured Curzon and tried to make him his slave once more. When Bellingham tried to pull Curzon to his house, Curzon refused to move, saying that he was free. Bellingham then ordered the guard to beat up Curzon. Each time Bellingham does something Curzon doesn't like, it gets Curzon angrier. Until finally Bellingham draws the line with Curzon. Bellingham hears about how Curzon and Isabel are planning to run away. So he consults Curzon about it and tells him how he will deal with his mischief. He says that every time Curzon messes up or does something wrong, Bellingham will inflict the pain on Isabel. So the more trouble Curzon causes, the more pain that will be inflicted on Isabel. After all of this Curzon decides that he has had enough of Bellingham and thinks, “I will kill Bellingham”(168). These are harsh words and readers would never imagine that Curzon would go to such lengths. Curzon must really be deeply affected by what is going on to think of such things. Bellingham continues to be cruel while he enjoys seeing Curzon suffer multiple

When looking at the idea the United States emphasizes freedom vs. emphasizing the very real existence of chattel slavery. The issue of slavery in America was not as easily thought as black and white. Mostly, people in the North were opposed to slavery, while the South promoted it. However, many people were indifferent. People in the North could see slavery as neither good nor bad, instead a way of Southern life. Frederick Douglass, knowing the North was home to lots of abolitionists, wrote his narrative “Narrative of Life” in order to show indifferent people in the north to see slavery as the shameful practice that it is. Douglass focuses on dehumanization of slaves, existence of slavery, and freedom in order to get his point across.

     Considering the fact that this was written during the height of the abolition movement the novel had to be effective in order to advance the success of the movement.

Consequently, this is a work of modern politics because the novel is designed to aid the abolitionist movement.

The main character of this book is Frederick Douglass because the book is about his life. Some supporting characters are Edward Covey who is a slave master and other masters are Auld family. Also there is his grandma and Betty Bailey. Frederick Douglass changes in the book i think is how he look at slavery because at the beginning he did not know much about slavery but throughout the book he found out how harsh slavery

Mr. Bellingham tells Iabel that if she hears Lockton, Madam, or any of their Loyalist friends to talk about sensitive information relating to the conflict, that sharing it would most likely buy the freedom owed to Ruth and Isabel. But Isabel rejected his offer because her only job was to take care of her sister and she can't put Ruth in jeopardy. After the story moves long a little bit, Curzon, which is the slave that Isabel befriends, gets thrown into jail because he ends up fighting on the side with the Patriots in the Battle of Fort

Although the author makes emotional connection, she also presents information that you would find in a history textbook in a new light. Anderson does this by incorporating terms that may be learned in history class such as loyalist, indentured servant, and regiment into a plot. For example, Isabel was befriended by an indentured servant, she worked for a loyalist family, and her friend was apart of a rebel regiment. It’s interesting to see the author eloquently incorporate these terms into a historical fiction story. This book has increased my interest in the subject matter of slavery. The book has peaked my interest, because it just gives the reader a look at what life was like for slaves. The abuse and injustice just shows how important rights are and that they should not be taken for granted. This book ignited a fire inside of