The Influence of Family One of the most formative elements in a person's life is family. In Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, the influence of family is expressed throughout the novel. A young slave girl named Isabel is separated from her parents at a young age. Despite the separation, her family still maintains a connection. Isabel's family instills in her qualities that are vital to surviving in a world of slavery. From an early age, family enables one to face a challenge with good judgment and confidence. When Isabel is informed of the news of Ruth being sold, she develops a strong malice towards Madam (133). Because she knows the repercussions for harming her superior, Isabel demonstrates strong self-control by accepting the news without physically retaliating. In addition to self-control, Isabel exemplifies her courage. After attempting to run away, she is branded with the letter "I" for insolence, which to her is supposed to be detrimental (148). Rather than be torn down by this symbol, Isabel remembers the advice of her father. Similar to her father considering scars as a symbol of strength, she considers the branding as a symbol of strength. In fact, she even determines that the letter "I" will …show more content…
After their family became separated, Isabel becomes a mother figure to Ruth. She nurtures Ruth and makes certain they are always together, hoping to never undergo separation again. In other words, Isabel becomes protective of her sister. Whenever Ruth makes a mistake in front of Madam, Isabel is there to take the blame in place of her sister. For example, Ruth laughs at Madam for protecting her linen chest and Madam confronts her (33). Instead of her getting punished, Isabel steps in and says she was the one who laughed. Much like her father taking a beating, she comes to the defense of her sister. She exhibits this trait of selflessness throughout the novel for the well-being of
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy of each other’s life” -Richard Bach. Far from the Tree by Robin Benway explores the meaning of family, and the impact that loved ones have on identity. The novel tells the story of three siblings who have three very different lives reunite after spending all of their lives separately. Grace, Maya and Joaquin grow dependant on one another, and unknowingly give and take values from each other that help them solve their own issues slowing being brought to light. With the help of his parents and siblings, Joaquin reveals a critical capacity for change as he leaves his old self behind and moves on to a better future with a loving family.
“We were in the center of a dying city.” Thinks Mattie in Fever, 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson, a historical fiction novel. This book is about the yellow fever epidemic of August through November in 1793. The main character, Matilda, overcame many hardships including the pestilence itself. The theme of Fever 1793 is perseverance, because she doesn’t give up even when she is emotional. Secondly, she fights through her hardships. Lastly, she never stopped believing that people she cared about were alive.
“The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation” (Wilson). The lives of New York slaves were worse than ever during the American Revolution. The Revolution was a successful, but rough, phase in America’s history. The Revolution began through British control, so when the people wanted to become independent, war broke out. The life of Isabel in Chains represents the everyday life of a slave during this time period.
Jacobs, Harriet, and Yellin, Jean. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press
In her story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents what life was like living as a female slave during the 19th century. Born into slavery, she exhibits, to people living in the North who thought slaves were treated fairly and well, how living as a slave, especially as a female slave during that time, was a heinous and horrible experience. Perhaps even harder than it was if one had been a male slave, as female slaves had to deal with issues, such as unwanted sexual attention, sexual victimization and for some the suffering of being separated from their children. Harriet Jacobs shows that despite all of the hardship that she struggled with, having a cause to fight for, that is trying to get your children a better life
One of Laurie’s favorite past-times is reading, especially now that she is unemployed and has time to follow her favorite authors. If you were to watch Laurie read, you would be able to tell when a book is getting really interesting or exciting, because Laurie will start biting her nails until she has worn them down to the quick and they start hurting her. According to Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory, Laurie’s predilection for biting her nails is a result of unresolved sexual urges that occurred during the first of five stages of development, the oral stage. Freud’s five stages of psychosexual development are the oral stage, occurring from birth to 1 ½ years, the anal stage from 1 ½ to 3 years, the phallic stage from 3 to 6 years, the
Isabel: Elpidia Carrillo an el Salvadorian, who's father was a disliked leader of a union there, an illegal alien working as a nanny for a rich couple. When she married jimmy she became, "free" but her morals and religious beliefs wouldn't let her take the vows of marriage lightly. She was a loving, persistent woman who didn't let her anger eat her alive.
Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed hair. Her favorite teacher would seem to be her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, because he seems to be the nicest and most reasonable. Every student, even her ex-best friend, Rachel Bruin, gives her nasty looks and treats her rudely. All this trouble started when Melinda called the cops at an end-of-summer party. Everybody thinks she did that just to bust them and get all the people in trouble but instead, she called the cops for something more terrifying. During the night of that party, she was raped by a senior who goes to Merryweather High, Andy Evans, by who she calls IT or Andy Beast. She was too scared and didn’t know what to do so she called the cops. Because of this, now everyone in school is disgusted and hateful of her. Though most of the students didn’t like her, she did become sort of “distant” friends with Heather, Ivy, and her science lab partner, David Petrakis. With all the drama, sadness, and conflict involved in Melinda’s life, she still seems to manage and finish the school year without ...
Speak, is a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, about a girl entering high school, for the first time, with a heavy secret weighting on her. Melinda Sordino begins freshman year at Merryweather High School, being a complete different person. Over the summer, Melinda and her friends went to a senior party, where Melinda ended calling the police. This caused her friends and the people at the party to socially reject her, even though they didn’t knew that before the phone call, Andy Evans raped her. Due to the phone call, Melinda enters high school without friends and having to see Andy Evans everyday. Her only “safe” place in the entire school is art class, where Mr. Freeman is the teacher. Mr. Freeman is the only teacher Melinda doesn’t dislike or avoids, because he listens and understands her, but also shows her the value of honesty.
Slavery is a term that can create a whirlwind of emotions for everyone. During the hardships faced by the African Americans, hundreds of accounts were documented. Harriet Jacobs, Charles Ball and Kate Drumgoold each shared their perspectives of being caught up in the world of slavery. There were reoccurring themes throughout the books as well as varying angles that each author either left out or never experienced. Taking two women’s views as well as a man’s, we can begin to delve deeper into what their everyday lives would have been like. Charles Ball’s Fifty Years in Chains and Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl were both published in the early 1860’s while Kate Drumgoold’s A Slave Girl’s Story came almost forty years later
In the story Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson, the compelling sequence to Chains, the perspective shifts from Isabel to Curzon and we learn what it takes runaway slaves to discover the own paths during the American Revolution. In the desperate circumstance in Valley Forge Curzon meets his old master, Master Bellingham, who captures Isabel and makes her his slave. Curzon and Isabel sort out their tangled friendships and decide to escape together leaving Master Bellingham tangled up.
Her lionhearted clothes reflected her valiant and strong attitude. However – Elisa Allen hid her true feelings. She was deceitful in interpersonal communication. Her tongue spilled bittersweet black smut like that of industrialized coal engines. However – it was compassionate, her concern and subtle behavior. A girl screaming to escape maiden life, but only knew it was disrupt order. “Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Verily, she had the heart of a lion and the appearance of a virgin.
It a major key in the success of cultures and often shows the roots of everybody’s beginnings. As they sprout and begin to grow into an individual, people are always grounded by their family. In the beginning of Roots, family can be seen everywhere, and is regarded as the one thing point that keeps everything in the village together, “Through this flesh, which is us, we are you, and you are us!” (Haley 56). Slavery then took the idea of family, and then butchered it in front of society. Families were disregarded when slaves were divided or sold onto plantation; some owners would purposely try to separate them because they didn’t want their slaves to be distracted when working, “Family separation through sale was a constant threat” (Williams). By removing the basis of family, slavery dehumanized millions of people. For some slaves, the only thing that kept them going was the hope that they may one day be reunited with their families. Unfortunately, this was not a common result as fathers and mothers were often sold and never see their children again. The fear of separation haunted families who were together and terrorized those that were faced with the split. In the end, even though the physical and mental pain of being a slave ravaged their spirits, the fact that they might never see their loved one again was the cruelest part of being a
Cecilia was diagnosed with cancer while Ruth was in high school and the day before her daughter’s graduation, she passed away (Salokar & Volcansek, 1996). One of the greatest influences on Ruth’s life was her mother and the values she instilled in her from a young age. Two of the greatest lessons that Ruth learned from her mother was to be independent and to be a lady, and by that she meant not to respond in anger but to remain calm in situations (Reynolds, 2009).... ... middle of paper ... ...
The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people throughout J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of his family give the reader a direct view of Holden's philosophy surrounding each member.