How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"You's a n*****!—bawn a n***** en a slave!—en you's a n***** en a slave dis minute; en if I opens my mouf old Marse Driscoll'll sell you down de river befo' you is two days older den what you is now!" (9.15)
POP (that was the sound of Roxy bursting Tom's bubble).
Quote #8
And all the time, hatred of [Tom's] ostensible "uncle" was steadily growing in his heart; for he said to himself, "He is white; and I am his chattel, his property, his goods, and he can sell me, just as he could his dog." (10.10)
What goes around comes around, eh? Tom's realization about his uncle is eerily similar to Roxy's discovery earlier in the novel (4.21) that she is Tom's "chattel" and "dog."
Quote #9
"[. . .] But how am I going to sell you? You're free, you know."
"De law kin sell me now if dey tell me to leave de state in six months en I don't go. You draw up a paper—bill o' sale—en put it 'way off yonder, down in de middle o' Kaintuck somers, en sign some names to it, en say you'll sell me cheap 'ca'se you's hard up; you'll find you ain't gwyne to have no trouble." (16.10-11)
Sheesh. Roxy's reply to Tom shows just how precarious and unstable the situations of "free slaves" were prior to the Civil War. Even though Percy Driscoll set Roxy free on his deathbed, laws designed to keep blacks in a subordinate position could still restrict her freedom.