Summary Of Chains By Laurie Halse Anderson

Isabel is looking at the books when the polite bookstore possessor looks at her and realizes that she is an educated slave. He calls her over and gives her a patriotic book called Common Sense. “This is for you. Don’t let your mistress see it” (230). He knows he will be in huge trouble if anyone finds out he gave her the book because he is determined. “He raised his finger to his lips in a last warning. ‘Shhhhhh’” (231)! This also shows that he knows there could be extreme consequences to this action but he does it because he is devoted to his cause. The young bookstore owner shows a colossal amount of courage like a lion in this

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

Have you ever thought about what it would be like not to be free? What would it be like not to be able to make choices? What would it be like not to be able to do what you want? It's scary to think about not being free, but even in the world today some people don't even have basic human freedoms. Lois Lowry shows us in her books The Giver and Gathering Blue what it would be like not to have freedom and how important it is that we have it.

Isabel has many character traits, but to narrow it down, I found three well traits that describe her. One trait would be that she is very stubborn. In the beginning of the story, after Isabel and Curzon reunited with Ruth again, Isabel became overprotective of Ruth. She was stubborn, and wouldn’t let Ruth go anywhere without someone with her. Although she is stubborn, there is a reason on why she is that way with Ruth. It is because she doesn't want to lose her again. In the middle of the book when Isabel and Ruth went to the camp to help out, Isabel showed a few ways she was stubborn. One example would be that she wouldn’t let Curzon’s friends tag along with them to hear what they were discussing, and she was too stubborn to let Curzon “kiss” her so that his friends would stop bugging him. In the end of the book, when Curzon came back wounded from the victorious battle, Isabel showed her trait of stubborn again. She wouldn’t let Curzon get up and do things like his daily work because she made him rest and heal. This shows there are many times in the book that shows her actions that prove her trait of being stubborn.

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

When Isabel exchanges information with the Patriot soldiers and explains what she wants in return for the information, her actions and speech reveal she is determined to return home free. During her conversation with the Patriots Isabel says, “ I am in a position to trade with you sir… My sister and I were wrongfully taken from Rhode Island, and I mean to get us back there” (pg. 102). After overhearing Master Lockton’s plans against George Washington, Isabel decides to take the list of names of those involved in the plan to the Patriot soldiers because she was told they could help set her free. Unlike in the beginning when she feels hopeless and scared after being sold to be a slave again, Isabel has changed and is now determined to seek the freedom that was promised to her after the death of her former

In the novel Chains, one of the main characters that goes by the name Curzon makes his first appearance as a real risk taker when he comes forward when in the book, Grandfather calls him and he replies, “‘I say I’m an American. [...] An American soldier” (pg. 164). In the beginning of the book, Curzon offers to take Isabel up to the Tea Water Pump. This is the first minor risk taken by Curzon in the book. At first, we would think of him as any other slave, just like Isabel, but later we find out he is treated a bit differently than Isabel and Ruth. Another example of Curzon being a risk taker and paying his freedom was when he became an American soldier. This is a huge risk because by becoming a soldier, he is risking his life and his safety. The last example of Curzon taking risks was when he doesn’t fight back for his hat, blanket or food rations in the jail.

Freedom and Liberty are explained in many ways and in “Chains” by Laurie Halse Anderson it is explained in the American Revolution by different types of people like Patriots, the rebels that are fighting against the king to become independent, the Loyalists that want to stay with the king of Great Britain, and the slaves. The slaves are working for both Patriots and Loyalists and they chose different sides but still have their own opinion like Isabel who is more on the Patriots side but still has here opinion on freedom. They all have their own interpretation of the words, “Freedom and Liberty” but they're all different. In the book Isabel is a slave with her sister Ruth, and is with a kind woman until she dies then she is sold to the

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.

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”- Nelson Mandela. The quote is describing how freedom is not only being out of chains but to be able to be in society with respect from all. Freedom can also mean a lot of different things depending on the person. For example to a teenager freedom could mean them getting out from under their parents supervision or parental control. But, freedom to an adult that works everyday of the week, their freedom can be, not have to work on the weekends, which gives them their freedom to do anything they want to do. In the slave narrative Incidents of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs about her life as a slave, freedom means Linda (aka Harriet Jacobs) being free from slavery, being away from Dr. Flint, and to have her family free with her. She tries to achieve her freedom in many different ways. She confesses to Mrs. Flint about the advances Dr. Flint makes towards her, she falls in with a free black man, and gets pregnant by Mr. Sands. She uses these to achieve her freedom from Dr. Flint’s advances. She also achieves her freedom by running away to her grandmother’s attic, and running away to the North. Linda also achieves her freedom when Dr. Flint had died and when Mrs. Bruce being her savior.

According to google, the definition of freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The Freedom from imprisonment or enslavement from those who holds a person against their power or will. However, when freedom is expressed by an ex-slaved, their views are completely different. Ex-slaves found it difficult to adjust to the liberal freedom because they have to deal with relocating families, no political rights to vote, and the ability to establish land.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a slave and having to work for somebody and listen to their every command and follow through with it? Well if you have, then you might know how Isabel felt. She had to listen to somebody tell her what to do and pity her like she was a wild animal because if you had dark skin, you were basically a wild animal. Slaves were treated differently in different areas and had different jobs to do. It all depended on the location you were in. Throughout the book, Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Isabel went to different work environments such as a small farm, plantation, and a big city.

Comparing the characters of Angelo and Isabella, one could argue that Isabella is ‘the symbol of goodness and mercy set against a background of moral decay’. Alternatively, one could see her character as self-righteous and hypocritical, as we later discover when she values her chastity higher than her brother’s life.

In The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham Isabel was a sympathetic character because she loved Larry, but married Gray. She understood that her love for Larry would not be enough for his happiness, so she let him go. She married Gray not for her happiness, but to appease her family. Her ability to relinquish her emotions, future, and her family, made her selfless. Elizabeth was engaged to Larry for the first two parts of The Razor’s Edge, but her love for him continued throughout the novel.

Curzon being brave and responsible changes Isabel’s thought of him. He is no fool, and knows how to combine hisself with the Lockton s’.