Study Questions
1. Why does George’s master take him away from the factory?

2. What makes George hold his temper?

3. What earlier tragedy did Eliza go through in her marriage?

4. What does the good-hearted factory employer offer to persuade Mr. Harris to let George stay?

5. What does Mr. Harris think about George’s hemp-cleaning machine?

6. Describe what George tells to Eliza about his experiences on the Harris plantation.

7. Describe what Mr. Harris has planned for George.

8. Why does Eliza fail at first to understand George’s situation?

9. How does George explain to Eliza the reality of their marriage?

10. What does George request that Eliza do for him before he leaves?

Answers
1. After seeing George display his talent and good manners, Mr. Harris felt inferior and became determined to put George back in his place.

2. George holds his temper when the sympathetic employer at the factory promises to help him later.

3. Two of Eliza’s children died before she gave birth to Harry.

4. The factory owner offers Mr. Harris more financial compensation.

5. Mr. Harris believes that George invented the hemp-cleaning machine to save time and labor for only himself.

6. George tells Eliza that he was whipped for trying to stop Mr. Harris’s son from beating a horse. He also explains that Mr. Harris forces him to kill his own dog because it was eating too much at Mr. Harris’s expense.

7. Mr. Harris wants George to settle down with a woman on the plantation and ignore Eliza. Otherwise, Mr. Harris would sell George further south to harsher work conditions.

8. Eliza fails to understand the extremity of her husband’s circumstances because she herself had been treated well on the Shelby plantation. Her religious beliefs center on patience and faith when troubled times come.

9. George explains to his wife that their marriage is really nonexistent in the eyes of the law. As slaves, they cannot be married, which is why George wishes that he had never been born. To have known happiness and then have it taken away is a worse feeling.

10. George asks Eliza to pray for him because he believes in her faith.