Analysis Of Isabel's Struggle For Independence In Chains By Laurie Halse Anderson

The novel Chains, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a young slave during the American Revolution named Isabel. Her master passed away and she was granted freedom, but was ignored that when she and her sister Ruth, were sent to be the slaves of the Locktons. Throughout the story, she struggles to find freedom from Madam Lockton, similarly to how the colonists’ seeked freedom from the reign of Britain. In the American Revolution, the colonists’ struggle for freedom from the British mirrors Isabel’s struggle for freedom from slavery in Chains because they both involved themes of courage, identity, and equality. The Americans’ struggle mirrored Isabel’s struggle for freedom starting with courage. Both America and Isabel had the courage to seek independence and …show more content…
Many colonists had to decide which side they were on and who they identified as; a loyalist or a rebel? This was a question Isabel also had to face. Colonists had to also decide if they were willing to fight for what they believed in and almost die for it. Isabel had to decide if she should help Curzon with the rebel cause or be loyal to Master and Madam Lockton. Isabel’s identity was also found after she was branded. Instead of seeing it as I for insolence, she found it as I for Isabel. She found herself in that branding and not pain or a bad behavior, she saw a good one. Another theme apparent in both Isabel and the colonists’ fight for freedom was equality. Each for their own different reason. Isabel is not looking for equality as a slave because freedom and independence was more important to her. All she wanted was to be free, find her sister, and avoid trouble, not equality with free white peoples of the colonies. If she involved herself with activism like searching for equality, it could ironically kill her. On the other hand, there were many slaves in the colonies at this time that did seek