In class, we were assigned an in-class essay about “walls” we saw between Sarah and Handful. One wall really stood out to me, but I didn’t notice it until it was taken down. In the beginning Handful and Sarah address each other by names they don’t especially identify themselves with. Sarah calls Handful “Hetty” because that is the name Mr. Grimke gave her and Handful calls Sarah “Miss Sarah” because it is what society expects from her. The first to push at this wall was Handful when after her lesson with Sarah she tells her “my real name is Handful” (60). Disclosing her “real” name implies that she wanted their relationship to be more of a “real” friendship and less of a master-servant one. Handful also takes the initiative with Sarah’s name. When Sarah finds Handful bathing in her tub, Handful calls her Sarah, “not Miss Sarah, but Sarah. [Sarah] would never again hear [Handful] put Miss before [her] name” (115). I think that in omitting Sarah’s title, Handful tries to put them on the same level because she starts to see them as more of equals. Since Handful is the one to step forward in both of these situations, I think she is showing how she wants equality more than Sarah, even though Sarah claims to want equality.
As I read The Invention of Wings, I began to notice a pattern. Every time fire was mentioned, either in the hearth or on a candle, an idea or some kind of independent thinking was taking place. And whenever someone is being kept from thinking or acting for themselves, fire is either put out or not allowed. It made me think that Kidd was using fire as a symbol for independence. When mauma tells Handful that her life is changing and that everything she does has to be for Sarah and not herself, she tells her “don’t light no candle” (15). When Sarah sneaks off to write the letter freeing Handful, the “library’s fireplace lay cold” and before she runs off she has to “bl[ow] out the flame on [her] candle” (19). Both of those times, they have to suppress themselves or sneak off to do to what they want. They cannot fully be themselves, as mimicked by the lack of fire where there would normally be one. However, when Sarah states her belief that “slaves should live among [whites] as equals” there was “a fire rag[ing] on the grate” (144,145). In that moment, Sarah goes against what is considered normal and voices her independent idea. When I realized this connection between fire and ideas, I started to make note of it and saw multiple instances where fire was mentioned when someone has an idea or is independent, and where Kidd writes about the absence of fire when someone is having to suppress themselves.
When I think of red, I think of rebellion, of revolution. I see posters from the Cultural Revolution with their black and red ink. I see fists raised in the air. I think Kidd made the thread that Handful steals red because, in a way, it was how Handful rebelled. However, it wasn’t a loud, fiery rebellion like we usually see in history, but it was there in the stolen thread. Handful knew she shouldn’t take it but she did anyway, because she could without being caught. It wasn’t a large revolt, but she was pushing the boundaries she was placed in by taking from the people who enslaved her without her noticing. I see small rebellions in school all the time—people “altering” the uniform in a way that isn’t entire in line with the dress code, but still tends to go unnoticed by teachers. I think it’s human nature for people to test the rules set on them. How many coming of age books are written about teenagers who sneak out or drink or steal because they can? It’s almost intrinsic of people to want to rebel, to take those ten dollars when you’re mom’s not looking or to steal some red thread. It’s how we silently rebel.
As I read The Invention of Wings, a theme kept jumping out at me—the struggle Sarah has between accepting the idea of slavery and voicing her opinion about it. She fluctuates between the two. After her eleventh birthday, Sarah realizes that even though she is against slavery, an institution that has become “as natural as breathing,” she still owns a slave and therefore “breath[es] that foul air” as well, participating in something she is against (16). Her realization leads to her “freeing” Handful. However, it becomes apparent how difficult it is for Sarah to oppose slavery when she finds the document torn up. She attempts a silent protest after the incident, but soon caves in, “swallow[ing] [her] pride” and ending her protest (25). The pressure to conform proves to be too much and Sarah takes the easy road, stopping her obvious objections to slavery. It takes time and experience for her to realize that if she doesn’t stand up for what she believes is important, then she might as well be lying to herself. She tells her father that she believes slaves should be considered equals. By standing up to her father and voicing her opinions, Sarah makes the decision to act on her beliefs, even if it could have detrimental effects.
This idea of the internal struggle we all experience when trying to decide whether or not to do the right thing or the least painful thing, made me think of a quote I’d heard in a movie. After a little Googling, I found the quote. Professor Dumbledore says it in the fourth Harry Potter movie when he talks to Harry. He tells him, “now is the time we must choose between what is right and what is easy.” I feel like that quote sums up what Sarah is dealing with throughout the book and I think we can all relate to it. Some of the hardest decisions to make can be about choosing the right thing. Rarely is the right thing to do also the easiest. You can tell a lot about people based on which path they choose, whether or not they can be strong enough to fight for what they believe in. |