What do Isabel and America have in common in Chains?
In the novel Chains, Laurie Halse Anderson portrays the Revolutionary War through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old enslaved girl named Isabel. While Isabel may be a young enslaved African American woman in a world dominated by white men, there are several characteristics that Isabel and America share.
First, both Isabel and America are struggling for their voices to be heard and, like many youths, they both become rebellious . After the death of her first owner, Isabel was meant to be freed; however, she remains a slave when the novel begins. Families who left Britain for the colonies expected to find a new life as well as the freedom to craft that life however they saw fit. Unfortunately, like Isabel, these young Americans found that they were in fact still “chained” to Britain in the form of unfair tariffs, or taxes, that were imposed without their input. Both Isabel...
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and America found themselves rebelling against a figure of authority who essentially held ownership of them.
Additionally, both Isabel and America were seen as young and foolish. At the age of thirteen, especially in this time period, Isabel was forced to mature faster than most adolescents today. She had responsibilities that involved tending to her master’s needs and expectations as well as caring for her younger sister. Americans, too, were dealing with realities most British citizens had probably never dreamed of, such as interactions with native peoples. Still, America, like Isabel, was seen as young and, therefore, not taken seriously. In an attempt to be heard, Americans protested British goods and services and even went so far as to waste tea in what later became known as the Boston Tea Party. Americans were portrayed as utter fools who were throwing a temper tantrum because they were too young and foolish to act otherwise. Similarly, at a time when women were seen as below men, when slaves were seen as below those who were free, and children were seen as below adults, Isabel sat near the very bottom of the societal ladder. She was a child, a slave, and a woman trying to speak up about her rights and was ultimately seen as young and foolish because of it.
Anderson pairs Isabel’s story with that of a young America to portray the similarities of an enslaved person to an enslaved nation: a young country rebelling against a dictator across the ocean and a young girl rebelling against her master.
Isabel shares with America an overwhelming desire for freedom. A young slave girl, she is absolutely stone-cold determined to achieve freedom for herself and her sister. Though only a child, she instinctively knows that slavery is an evil institution and that she must resist it with everything she's got.
This comes against the background of rising tensions between the American colonists and their British overlords. An increasing number of Americans want their own kind of freedom—the freedom that can only come from breaking free from the mother country once and for all. And yet, most of them fail to see the irony in insisting on their own freedom while denying it to slaves like Isabel.
Isabel is conflicted, not sure whether her interests are best served by the Loyalists—those Americans loyal to the king—or the Patriots—those who want independence. Contrary to what many people think, the American colonies were deeply divided between those who wanted independence and those who wished to remain loyal to Great Britain.
As a slave, Isabel is effectively excluded from this political debate, but that doesn't mean it's not important to her. She needs to know which side is most likely to give her the kind of freedom she so desperately craves. As it turns out, she realizes that she must ignore the partisan labels of colonial politics and blaze her own trail to freedom. In that sense, she's more like America than she realizes.
How are Isabel and America different in Chains?
This is an interesting question. Most of the time, Isabel and America are compared to each other instead of contrasted from each other.
A simple difference is that America is a country and Isabel is a person, but that is an incredibly simple contrast and not likely what your teacher wants to hear.
One difference is that Isabel starts the story as a free slave, but America is not free from British rule. The country hasn't declared independence yet. The story begins in May of 1776. While America might be getting ready to declare independence from Britain, it has not happened yet; however, Isabel begins the story having recently been set free. She is forced back into slavery, and soon after, America becomes its own free country. This is a sort of role reversal that occurs in the story.
I would say that another key difference is that Isabel is willing to work with the British in order to become free again. That is why she tries to escape the Lockton household by going to the British military. Isabel has heard that the British are willing to free slaves that help them. Seeking help from the British is not something that the newly formed American country can do.
What commonalities did Isabel and America share in Chains?
Like Isabel, America is just starting out in the time period when the book begins—indeed, it is not even independent from Great Britain, and even by the end of the book it is only recently acknowledged as a country. As such, Isabel feels some affiliation with America as an entity in its early stages.
As a slave, Isabel is extremely unhappy with the way she is treated by her owners. This reflects the dissatisfaction felt by America about the way it is treated by its British overlords—the young country is suffering under issues of being taxed without representation, essentially being asked to contribute without being recompensed. As a slave, Isabel is confronted with this same issue.
It is no surprise, then, that Isabel wishes to break free of her owners. This is echoed by the young country of America seeking freedom from its mother country, knowing that its worth is greater than what the mother country acknowledges. However, neither Isabel nor the USA is able to achieve its goal without resorting to some level of violence. Isabel has to escape her house by force, faking her valid documents and fleeing from the state. Meanwhile, the US achieves its independence through an act of war.