Klosterman 1

Audrey L. Klosterman
Mr. Maite
Humanities VIII- 4A
February 5, 2015
I believe that Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson is the story of Isabels coming
of age or bildungsroman because she is sold away from her home, torn apart
from her sister, and made to choose between two different sides of a war. She
matures throughout the story and learns many important life lessons. She starts
out as just a poor slave girl with no mother or mistress, but then becomes so much
more than that. She approaches each problem she is faced with differently and
learns from her choices and actions.
At the beginning of Chains, Isabel is an innocent and caring young girl. She is
very protective of her sister and would do anything to keep her safe. Unfortunately,
Isabel and Ruths mistress, Miss Mary Finch, has just died. Isabel and Ruths mother
is also dead, so they have no one to care for them. However, Miss Mary Finch had
promised to set them free once she had died and had stated so in her will. Isabel
turns to the priest for help in figuring out what she and Ruth should do and where
they should go. The priest is reluctant to let them go free and instead of trying to
find the will, he hands Isabel and Ruth over to Mary Finchs nephew. He doesnt
want anything to do with the girls and sells them off at the first chance he gets.
Isabel and Ruth are then shipped to New York and bought by the Locktons, a
wealthy loyalist family. Their new mistress, Mrs. Anne Lockton, is a cold-hearted
woman. She doesnt care for Isabel and works her much harder than she works

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Ruth (who she has taken a liking to). In fact, Mrs. Lockton likes Ruth so much, that
she makes Ruth her personal maid and dresses her up in funny outfits and
costumes, just like a doll. Isabel has to deal for the first time with being treated as
an inferior to her sister and at first doesnt know exactly what to do. She learns that
she must hold her tongue, control her temper, and above all, make sure that
nothing bad happens to Ruth. These three rules she must abide by shape Isabel in
a way she would never have learned if she had been set free.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Lockton finds out that Ruth has a brain disorder that
causes her to have seizures. In these seizures, Ruth usually loses all concisouness.
She starts shaking and trembling and sometimes hits her head on something and
starts bleeding. Isabel has always been the one that has had to deal with Ruths
fits, but now she has to try and convince Madam Lockton that the seizures are
harmless. However, they horrify Mrs. Lockton and she tries to sell Ruth as soon as
she can. So, Madam Lockton decides to drug Isabel with milk and send Ruth away
while she is sleeping. Isabel wakes up and finds out too late that Ruth is missing.
She is distraught by the news and cant control herself. She threatens Madam
Lockton and almost hits her. Madam Lockton wont stand for this and she decides
to have Isabel punished in one of the worst ways possible: she has Isabel branded
with the letter I (for insolence) on one of her cheeks. Isabel is ashamed of the
mark but tries to make the best of it and forget about it. To go through something
as traumatizing as losing a sibling and then being punished for it takes a great deal
of strength. I do not think Isabel would have been able to deal with it at the
beginning of the book, therefore proving that she is growing up.
When Isabel and Ruth first arrived in New York, she was asked by a slave boy
named Curzon to spy on Master Locktons meetings with other loyalists and report

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back to him with the information. She tells Curzon about how the loyalists plan to
attack General Washingtons camp. General Washington is then prepared for the
attack and not taken by surprise. However, Isabel is astonished by how she helped
prevent an attack that would have been much worse without her help. She is
fearful that Master Lockton will find out about her intentions, so she instead tries to
join the loyalists. She visits the campsite of the British and asks for work. She
offers to cook meals for the soldiers, wash and sew their clothes, and even attend to
the sick a bit. The captain of the British army is hesitant to accept her offer
because she is owned by a loyalist herself and see no reason that she needs to work
for them. After she gets rejected, Isabel doesnt know who she should lay her
loyalties with and is stuck in a dilemma. She eventually returns to the side of the
patriots and helps get Curzon out of jail. The two children then run away to
Charleston where Isabel has learned Ruth is. The struggle of being torn between
sides in a conflict is a huge hardship, but Isabel handles it smartly and doesnt give
up. This is something that she definitely gained throughout the book and could not
have done without the hardships that were tossed at her along the path. As well as
deciding between two sides, the decision of running away is a huge risk and Isabel
handles it with great caution and manages not to get caught.
For these reasons that I believe that Chains was the bildungsroman of
Isabel. She could not have made it through all these trials if she had stayed the
person she was at the beginning of the book. I greatly admire Isabel for her
perseverance, intelligence, and how she handles everything that is thrown at her
from being sold away from her home, torn apart from Ruth, and the dilemma she
faces deciding between two sides of a war. Over the course of the story, through

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the hardships and different situations she faces, Isabel matures from an innocent
girl to a wiser, more mature young lady.