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Analysis Of Slavery In Chains By Laurie Halse Anderson

1649 Words7 Pages

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”-Bob Marley. While many dream of a reality in which suffering and abuse had never come to be, the existence of slavery gives a proven otherwise. The novel Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson displays this injustice through the eyes of one of slavery’s many victims. Isabel is a young girl battling the dangers of a hostile world along with her younger sister, Ruth. At an early age, the girls are forced into labor under the supervision of Madam Lockton-an important Loyalist figure during the time period of the Revolutionary War. Though she constantly attempts to keep Isabel’s ambition chained, she is incapable of doing so. For Isabel possess a force much more powerful-an …show more content…

With this right, they are given the assurance that every man shall be protected from doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority. However, Isabel is not given this well-deserved right and instead is compelled to serve those who are. Naturally, this can be viewed as an unfair act of violation of one’s most sacred right. That is why, when the Declaration of Independence was in construction, Thomas Jefferson had the desire to reveal this inequity to the public. “...Violating it’s most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere,” (Jefferson 1). However, this clause was considered irrelevant to other members of Congress and therefore was rejected. Rejected it may have been, but its message was not. Slavery was still a heinous act in the eyes of many, even those who held a high position in the Loyalist community, like Lady Seymour. “I find the buying and selling of children most repugnant”(Anderson 152). Most settled on the belief that rights were granted by the government to it’s citizens, and that Slaves were not considered citizens. However, with the publication of the Delcaration this ideal became questionable. Was the buying as selling of a people really considered a discriminant act? This was the question that permeated the colonial air. So much so, that many were starting to alter their viewpoints on the impact of slavery. “The Declaration’s recognition of the existence of unalienable rights was a controversial position at that time.”(The Declaration and Natural Rights5) The argue acted against Slavery’s influence as a benefit, compared to a tragedy. Though the assistance from those in labor had crucially supported the economic lifestyle of the Nation, it did not support it’s fundamental values. One

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