The Importance Of The Characters In Laurie Halse Anderson's Chains

Is choosing the wrong path to find the real you a bad thing? In a story generally the

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

“Incidents in the Life of a Slave” by Harriet Jacobs is an autobiographical narrative. It gives us a look inside in how the lives of slave women were, the troubles they faced and how they met them, especially the sexual abuses they suffered by their masters. She tells us how her master had the “right” to impregnate the slave and then that child would have to follow in its mother’s life as a slave. It took a lot of courage to stand

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.

The rebellion will weather like a vine cut off at it’s route. Cut off a vine and it will grow back, the mayor said. You must pull it out of the ground and burn it to ensure it is dead.“(Gold Buttons, and The Major 89). The Patriots think that way and the Loyalists think another but how do the slaves think of Freedom and Liberty. Isabel a slave in the book would consider freedom as not being a slave. She has been in bondage her entire life, so freedom to her is being considered a person, not property. Also being able to go find Ruth and to live and travel wherever she wants, to say whatever she wants to say. I think Isabel considers being free, having no chains holding her down, and having the same rights as a white man. I know this because Isabel states in the book chains,” If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl? And if a girl wants to seek her freedom, how could she do a fool-headed thing? Especially a girl trapped in New York? Best thing would be to break into the desk of a British commander steal a pass and forge her name and his name on it and act free. And pigs were likely to fly, Plus, that girl seeking freedom would have to walk. “(Isabel 272) These quotes show what Liberty means the different types of people in the book Chains. Freedom and Liberty can make people do impossible things like having farmers and slaves fight against the strongest army that has never lost a battle. Freedom and Liberty is one crazy

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.

When students are bullied, they are encouraged to speak up about it to a teacher or some other adult; however, many do not, because they may think their cases are not important enough to be told, because no one will believe their stories, or because they are embarrassed by what happened. As these cases turn from simple bullying to a more severe event, this inability to speak up only increases. Laurie Halse Anderson shows this effect with being raped, as well as the emotional damage that goes with it. Through Melinda’s experiences in Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing reflects the time in which it was written, her views on teens and the adolescent years, and her early life.

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.

Although the use of historical fiction to understand the past had various drawbacks, historical fiction such as Bound by Sally Gunning proved to also have numerous benefits. Set in pre-revolutionary America, the story of Alice Cole was effective in teaching its readers about indentured servitude and certain aspects of colonial life leading up to the Revolutionary War. However, some drawback in using historical fiction included readers focusing on storyline rather than the history, and romanticizing the time period. Despite a few drawbacks, the use of historical fiction such as Bound to teach about the past had many benefits including showing the social dynamic and daily life, enhancing understanding of setting and history, and creating relatable characters that allow the reader to connect and better remember history.

Isabel is the main character and can be referenced as the one who has the most chains throughout the book. Her social status doesn’t really help her case, since she is a slave. This fact takes away her hope and instead replaces it with the darkness of slavery as evident on pg 202, ”The plants had burned”. Throughout the story the plants represent Isabel’s hope and her growth as a character. The burning of the plants represents that she is losing hope and her fate seems dreary and bleak.She thinks that her future is hopeless,but then it all turns around for her to think that the Locktons may have chained her body but “she

I feel like Laurie Halse Anderson really conveyed a real life society that teenagers have to face every day. I also have the impression that the society in the book is ignorant because they do not see the underlying problems. The society ignorance caused Melinda a lot of pain and suffering, and probably affected her for the rest of her life. I think the part that angered me the most, was that no one try find out why Melinda was acting the way she was, and just secluded her instead. It is despondent to say that this society was mirrored on are very own, and I think that the most horrible thing that society does is make assumptions about things and people. I believe that the society did hold Melinda back, because it made it harder for her

Lockton and Isabel are the same is that they both have very strong spirits, and are very brave. Mrs. Lockton is strong in the way that she stands up to her husband at times and will take the risk of being beaten to state her opinion. Mrs. Lockton is not like most women and does not just sit back and comply to her husband's commands. To do this and be rebellious Mrs. Lockton has to have spirit and be strong and brave. If she was not brave she would never rebel against him or question his power over her. If Mrs. Lockton was not brave or did not have any drive she would be a lonely house wife and would do nothing but bake all day. Isabel is very similar in this way as she has drive, bravery and spirit as well. Like Mrs. Lockton, if Isabel did not have any spirit she would not care about her enslavement and would not be trying so hard to escape it. For Isabel to rebel she had to have even more bravery and be even stronger. “I walked up two steps. ‘Did you sell Ruth?’... I took another step. ‘Answer me, you miserable cow, Did you sell my sister?’ ‘Stay away from me.’ she said. I rose another step… ‘One more step and I can have you hung.’ Madam whispered… Madam grabbed a painting from the wall and throw it down on my head… I ran out the door for the first time.” This cite shows how dangerous it was for Isabel to be disobeying madam, yet she did anyways and would do anything for Ruth and her freedom. Isabel had to be brave for Ruth as well, and had to

In the book, Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl, Linda Brent tells a spectacular story of her twenty years spent in slavery with her master Dr. Flint, and her jealous Mistress. She speaks of her trials and triumphs as well as the harms done to other slaves. She takes you on the inside of slavery and shows you the Hell on Earth slavery really was. She tells you the love and

Early in their lives, two young sisters, Ruth and Lucille, experience loss and abandonment from the men in the family. Their grandfather had died in a train derailment into Lake Fingerbone before they were born, and their father leaves them while they are very young. Then their mother commits suicide, but not before dropping the girls off on their grandmother’s porch. Moreover, then, “she sailed in Bernice’s Ford from the top of a cliff named Whiskey Rock into the blackest depth of the lake (23), again into Lake Fingerbone. After only a few months their grandmother dies leaving the girls to the remainder of the family, a collection of eccentric females. The girls deal with all of this by relying on each other. Soon, their great Aunt’s,

While introducing her to Isabel, Mrs. Touchett notes, “she [Madame Merle] is too fond of mystery…that is her great fault” (183). Isabel wonders about her past and how Madame Merle came to justify such an “air of distinction” (184), but Madame Merle is able to conceal her affair with Gilbert Osmond and the child it produced, the most important parts of her life, from Isabel’s knowledge. Nevertheless, Isabel quickly declares she “had never encountered a more agreeable or interesting woman than Madame Merle” (196) and finds herself trying to emulate many of Madame’s characteristics. It is clear that Merle is an intelligent, witty, and cultivated woman and when she was younger would have shared much in common with Isabel, including her ambition and independence. The parallels that Madame Merle sees between Isabel and herself becomes a driving force in her efforts to marry Isabel to Osmond. Merle covertly helps Osmond tailor himself to what she knows Isabel desires: an intellectual match, as well as someone who (seemingly) will not stifle her freedom. Among all of Isabel’s acquaintances, Madame Merle is the only one not vehemently opposed to her relationship with Osmond, but because of Isabel’s naive belief in her own independence she does not see this as suspicious, and agrees to marry