‘Chains’ is a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, and the book mainly talks about the experiences of a black girl slave in first person. This book occurs quite a long time ago, when the American War for Independence had just started and slaves were treated very badly.
Dehumanization of slaves is a main topic in this novel. The black slave, called Isabel, was bought by the Locktons, and when they brought her home they changed her name. Nowadays there’s only one thing which you can bring home and name - pets. So before, slaves were not treated as humans, and black slaves were treated worse. Also, the Locktons lived in a Patriot city while they themselves are loyalists. So the fact that they’re loyalists is a secret. But since black slaves weren’t treated as normal human, they talk in front of Isabel all their plans to defeat the patriot cause. One more supporting reason is that at the start of the novel, Isabel should’ve been freed because of her last owner’s will. But since slaves weren’t often taught to read and the lawyer with the will was on vacation, they said that Isabel lied and sold them even though the will and the lawyer was true. They didn’t even bother sending a message.
All of these experiences Isabel had proves that before, people treated slaves (especially black) like animals. The Declaration of Independence stated “that all men are created equal”, but slaves were not treated equal, and they didn’t realize and think of the problem until centuries later.
The dehumanization of slaves is a major theme of Chains. Discuss how the life experiences of Isabel illustrate the ways in which American slaves were dehumanized using specific examples from the novel. Note: In official exam, the online essay duration is 30 minutes. All prompts in Mock Online Essay will be uploaded to Bloom student system for you to practice. (The question I used to write the text above)
