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Summary Of Ruth And Isabel Overhear Chains

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Ruth and Isabel are both slaves who are attending the funeral of their previous owner Miss Finch. Both of them are excited when they realize they will be free once their owner dies, as stated in her will. However Miss Finch’s brother Robert doesn 't approve of this. He instead sells them to Anne and Elihu Lockton who are Loyalists currently during the Revolutionary War. Anne makes the girls call her Madam and is very cruel to them. While working on her duties, Isabel befriends Curzon, another slave who works for a Patriot Law Officer Mr Bellingham. Curzon tells Isabel of an opportunity to work as a spy to overhear any information from the Locktons concerning the conflict occurring right now. Isabel initially refuses but once she sees Ruth emotionally damaged from the Locktons abuse she immediately realizes they need to escape their owners. Isabel …show more content…

Chains is a work of historical fiction. While Isabel and Ruth are fictional characters, their situation is realistic. They were both child slaves and child slaves were sold to families and had to work extremely hard. During the Revolutionary War, many slaves ran away in hope to find their family and start a new life. The battles depicted in the book are real. For example the British attacked Northern end of Manhattan. This was called the Battle of Fort Washington. Once the British gained control of Fort Washington they held thousands of Americans as prisoners of war. In around 1700-1775, about three hundred thousand Africans were kidnapped and shipped to the Americas to work as slaves. African American fought for both the British and Patriot sides during the war. In 1775, the Royal Governor of Virginia said that if slaves volunteered in the war for the British they would be freed. This proclamation was intended to ruin the Patriots economy considering Virginia had the highest number of slave owners. The Revolutionary War allowed the Americans to create and take charge of their own government and development of a

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Throughout the book, Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, it discusses the adventures and mishaps of a young girl named Isabel, struggling to gain her freedom with her sister, Ruth. In the beginning of the story, Isabel and her sister are forced to leave to New York after their old owner died to live with their new, selfish owners, Mr. and Mrs. Lockton. When Isabel hears the news about the start of a riot from the British colonies trying to attain their freedom from her new friend, Curzon, she begins to spy and give details about Mr. Lockton's plans and schemes. Eventually, Ruth gets taken away from their home after a series of on and off ilnesses, and Mrs. Lockton realizes that Isabel has been giving information to the Patriots, their enemy,

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Curzon’s tenacity is seen when he is determined to save Isabel’s life, save his own life, and even tries to find a plan to steal food in order to survive. Curzon is determined to save Isabel’s life even if it means risking his own. They are both in the house when Bellingham comes into the room and puts Isabel at gunpoint. Curzon takes a few steps toward Bellingham and, as planned, Bellingham points the gun at Curzon. Curzon walks towards Bellingham, “A third step and I[Curzon] was only four paces away from him, close enough to make him nervous.

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In the historical fiction novel, chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson showed me that people who were slaves in the past were treated cruelly and inhumanly. To start off, Isabel and Ruth’s owners (Madam Lockton and Mr. Lockton) don’t ever think of the girls as people but just as slaves that do their work for them. For example, in the book when Madam Lockton or Mr. Lockton needed to get their attention or call them over, they didn’t address them by their real names but as “girl” or “Sal”. This shows how careless Madam Lockton and Mr. Lockton are about Ruth and Isabel and they can’t even call them by their real names, which is very frustrating for me when I was reading this part in the book.

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Slaves in every situation, had the short end of the stick, and were not allowed to be themselves at all. In the book “Chains” by Laurie Halse Anderson it follows two girls that go through different situations, Isabel and Ruth. And this book has an amazing metaphor and a lot of them throughout the book, the main one is Chains, or the book title. I will share with you what I think this means. Isabel, the character that the book is told in, goes to New York, where the people are really divided.

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Fifty Years in Chains, a real life story about Charles Ball. At the young age of four, Charles got stripped from his mother’s hands and was sold as a slave never to see her again. Charles went through a great flux of feelings throughout his life in reaction to the horrible struggles of being a slave, but he always seemed to find a way to stay hopeful. It all started when Charles’s grandfather was brought to the Southern States from Africa and was sold as a slave.

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Chains Character Essay How is it that an entire society can envision their future in freedom when one girl can’t? Chains, Laurie Halse Anderson’s award winning book is a compelling historical fiction story that will show instead of tell you the tear jerking truth about slavery, whilst keeping you at the edge of your seat wanting to continue on your literary journey with every page awaiting your arrival. Because she’s gullible, and superstitious Isabel’s negative characteristics are obstacles in the path of her finding her freedom. Despite these flaws her resilience is able to help her win against slavery.

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Throughout the novel Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson there are many different conflicts within the book such as freedom, abuse, and the war between the Patriots and the loyalists. However the conflict that is the most consistent throughout the book is Isabel's care for her sister Ruth and the things that get in between the safety of her sister. Isabel and Ruth have to go through a lot of abuse from Madam which is their slave owner since they are slaves. Many things hjappen within this household that threaten Ruth's safety such as fear that she will be sold, beaten or mistreated in anyway because of possible poor performance with chores around the house. This makes Isabel search for any possible opportunity for freedom for the well being of herself and her sister.

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Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson talks about Isabel, an enslaved person, and her voyage for freedom. Isabel faces many conflicts both internal and external throughout the book. Her growth in the novel symbolizes a coming of age changing her into a young woman. She experiences her first coming of age when she loses her mother to smallpox.

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Historical Fiction Essay "A story can always break into pieces while it sits inside a book on a shelf and, decades after we have read it even twenty times, it can open us up, by cut or caress, to a new truth." – Andre Dubus, from Movable Meditations. The story Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson takes place in New York during the year 1777 where the main character, Isabel, an African-American slave is fighting for her and her younger sisters freedom during the American Revolutionary War. The theme developed throughout Chains is perseverance and courage. In Chains the protagonist is Isabel, a thirteen year old girl, who was enslaved in Rhode Island.

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The American Revolution was a war fought by American colonies to gain independence from the British control. The American Revolution was caused by a series of events. It all started with the French and Indian War in 1754. At the end of the war, King George III issued the proclamation of 1763 which prohibited colonists to settle beyond the Appalachian Mountains, many colonists took great offense at this order.  The war between Britain and France caused Britain to be deeply in debt and demanded tax from the colonies.

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In the narrative, Oates recalls her high school years in which she reconnects with Ruth Weidel, who gave teachers the implication that “something had happened” and how they “treated her guardedly” (Oates 561). This ties into the theme of the individual versus society. When she lived with her family, Ruth and the rest of her family were treated as outcasts and were talked about behind their backs. Now in high school, she remained alone until Oates worked up the nerve to befriend. Something had caused her to mature quickly and in the midst of that growth, Ruth created a barrier to protect herself from anymore pain.

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The American Revolution (1700-1790) was a historical event in time, where the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States of America, gained independence from the British Empire. Many historians would agree that the Revolution was caused by events and the growing differences between the colonists and England. The cause of the American Revolution could be summarized in the saying ‘liberty vs. tyranny’. The American Revolution was a struggle by liberty-loving Americans to free themselves from a dictatorial British rule. In this period, the Colonies protested against the British Empire and entered into the American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence.

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