If there's one thing Chains has plenty of, it's pain. Our heroine, Isabel, experiences more suffering in her thirteen years than anyone should in a lifetime—she's enslaved, branded, beaten, separated from her father, and watches disease claim her mother. Even though it's a pretty gripping, suspenseful read, Isabel's experiences with suffering are heart wrenching and often make the story difficult to look at.
But it's not all bad. Isabel ultimately learns a pretty powerful lesson about suffering: that neither it nor her abusers can define who she is. In the end, she's able to draw strength from her survival rather than submit to hopelessness.
Questions About Suffering
- Chains contains many graphic descriptions of human suffering. Which of these passages affects you the most and why?
- What other characters besides Isabel deal with suffering? What do their experiences add to the story's portrayal of this theme?
- How do Isabel's coping skills with pain change over the course of the novel? What events play a role in changing her attitude?
- Imagine that you live in New York in 1776. What aspect of life in this time and place do you think would be most challenging for you? (Note: If the first thing that comes to mind is having to use an outhouse, we totally get that. But try to think deeper.)
Chew on This
Much of Isabel's suffering happens because she allows Madam Lockton to hurt her.
Madam Lockton's own experiences with suffering allow us to have some sympathy for her as a character.