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The Invention Of Wings Chapter Summary

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Analytical Book Review Number Two: The Invention Of Wings

Going back to the early 1600s, the practice of using Africans as a form of slavery was brought to the American colonies as a form of free labor. The slaves often worked on cotton,tobacco and sugar plantations. In this novel “The Invention of Wings” the book is based in the early 1800s in Charleston South Carolina and goes back and forth between Handful and Sarah Grimke's life.Handful is Sarah's waiting maid and Sarah is her master,who is later to become a Quaker and an abolitionist. In this novel, I believe that Handful is the protagonist because a protagonist can be defined as the main character of a novel. I believe that Handful is the main character in this novel because the book is very centralized around slavery by the work and life of Handful as a slave and towards the end of the novel the gaining of …show more content…

In the novel it quotes “I sewed throughout the day and night and all the next day and night,and the whole time I wore mauma’s scarf.”(p.186) This is only a portion of the endless amount of work that Handful had to do for the Missus. Handful towards the end of the novel became Missus seamstress since her mother was no longer present. In “The Invention of Wings” it states “There are sad truths in our world,and one is that slaves who read are a threat.”(p.67) Many people feared that if slaves became educated in any means that they would rebel/revolt. The life of a slave was hash not just harsh physically but even for having any type of education. It was illegal for slaves to learn how to read and when Handful was discovered that Sarah was teaching her how to read she was lashed for it. The life and work of a slave, such as Handfuls life mentioned in the book,Handfuls life was not as easy compared to Sarah Grimke's

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The author, Molly Merryman, earned her Ph.D., from Bowling Green State University in 1995 in American Culture Studies. She teaches at Kent State, and is associated with History and Justice Studies, American Studies, and Women’s programs. She is also a documentary film maker, who has received national and international screenings and awards, along with three Emmys. Merryman’s book, Clipped Wings, includes a useful index, that has cross-referencing for both topics and names. The bibliography of this book is organized into categories of different sources, such as articles, books, government documents, etc.

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