If you have ever had to go through a time when the struggle just never seemed to end, you know that it changed you as a person and helped you grow to be much more strong and mature. In the novel Chains, the author, Laurie Halse Anderson, presents a historical fiction novel where a young girl named Isabel, overcomes many hardships in her life as a slave in the late 1700’s. She is sold away to the abusive Locktons, where she faces many challenges, including having her 5-year-old sister sold away and being branded on her cheek. Later on, Isabel proves that she is willing to do anything in order to gain freedom by siding with both of the countries and helping them, with the sole purpose of escaping her situation. Anderson demonstrates that through
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In this part of the novel, Isabel gets told that, “You are a small black girl Country… You are a slave, not a person” (41). This is coming from her friend, Curzon, who is not intending to hurt her, but is just telling her the truth of what was believed back then. Curzon is trying to help Isabel come to terms with the idea that people will not value her opinions, or even stop to think that she has any. Furthermore, later in the novel, Isabel has just been informed that Madam Lockton has sold away her beloved little sister Ruth and stands up to Madam Lockton for the first time. She gets so incredibly incandescent, that as she yells irately at Madam, she thinks to herself, “She did not look into my eyes, did not see the lion inside, she did not see the me of me, the Isabel” (134). Madam Lockton has a tendency to treat Isabel and Ruth like they are not people, but objects, just as Curzon had said. Throughout most of the book, there are countless people trying to convince Isabel that she isn’t valid or cared for, but she never succumbs to their words and continues to fight for her place in society. Isabel’s fight for freedom starts with her fighting for her right to exist as …show more content…
Anderson uses the literary device of the mirrors as symbols, which in this first section, which takes place earlier in the novel, Isabel is serving the Locktons and sees herself in a mirror and thinks to herself, “I caught a glimpse in the hearth mirror of a girl with a mark on her cheek that trumpeted her shame” (208). She is ashamed of who she is, and feels that she’s broken her promise to her parents, and disappointed her mother by letting herself be controlled. Isabel grows after all of the incomprehensible struggling, and in the end of the novel, she looks into the exact same mirror as she escapes and sees a stranger with the features of the parents that she loved so dearly. When she looks at the mark on her cheek that she has hated so profusely and has caused her so much pain, she decides to be proud of it instead of despising it because it shows everything she’s been through that makes her truly herself. She decides that the scar on her cheek does not stand for Insolence, but that, “This mark stands for Isabel” (286). Anderson brilliantly presents that after we have gone through hardships, we see ourselves in a new light even when put in an almost identical situation as
In this part of the novel, Isabel gets told that, “You are a small black girl Country… You are a slave, not a person” (41). This is coming from her friend, Curzon, who is not intending to hurt her, but is just telling her the truth of what was believed back then. Curzon is trying to help Isabel come to terms with the idea that people will not value her opinions, or even stop to think that she has any. Furthermore, later in the novel, Isabel has just been informed that Madam Lockton has sold away her beloved little sister Ruth and stands up to Madam Lockton for the first time. She gets so incredibly incandescent, that as she yells irately at Madam, she thinks to herself, “She did not look into my eyes, did not see the lion inside, she did not see the me of me, the Isabel” (134). Madam Lockton has a tendency to treat Isabel and Ruth like they are not people, but objects, just as Curzon had said. Throughout most of the book, there are countless people trying to convince Isabel that she isn’t valid or cared for, but she never succumbs to their words and continues to fight for her place in society. Isabel’s fight for freedom starts with her fighting for her right to exist as …show more content…
Anderson uses the literary device of the mirrors as symbols, which in this first section, which takes place earlier in the novel, Isabel is serving the Locktons and sees herself in a mirror and thinks to herself, “I caught a glimpse in the hearth mirror of a girl with a mark on her cheek that trumpeted her shame” (208). She is ashamed of who she is, and feels that she’s broken her promise to her parents, and disappointed her mother by letting herself be controlled. Isabel grows after all of the incomprehensible struggling, and in the end of the novel, she looks into the exact same mirror as she escapes and sees a stranger with the features of the parents that she loved so dearly. When she looks at the mark on her cheek that she has hated so profusely and has caused her so much pain, she decides to be proud of it instead of despising it because it shows everything she’s been through that makes her truly herself. She decides that the scar on her cheek does not stand for Insolence, but that, “This mark stands for Isabel” (286). Anderson brilliantly presents that after we have gone through hardships, we see ourselves in a new light even when put in an almost identical situation as