Chains

The war begins in earnest in these chapters as several historical events take place. The Battle of Brooklyn is the first major battle in the Revolutionary War and is a sound victory for the British, giving them important access to a major port city. The ensuing occupation of New York brings uncertainty to even Becky, a staunch Tory. She wonders if she should still support the monarchy and, more importantly, with whom God sides in this conflict. Everyone has taken a side, but when the war begins, allegiances are tested; and as the Union Jack (the British flag) is raised in the city square, the success of the revolution appears to be in jeopardy from the beginning. However, the fog that allows Washington’s troops to safely retreat is seen as providential. Dense fog is often a disorienting and dangerous weather event, but in this instance, it provides a cloak of concealment for military maneuvering. Isabel calls Washington a “conjure man,” thinking he can summon some type of mysticism or magic for his escape. Unfortunately, Isabel is unable to produce a miracle of her own, and her desperate escape attempt falls through with the return of Master Lockton with the British army.

As the darkness of war descends on the city, darkness invades Isabel’s soul. She struggles physically as the symptoms of a head injury cloud her thoughts, and she is emotionally adrift without Ruth by her side and without any hope of finding her. She takes out her anger and bitterness on the household by quietly revolting in her way, yet it only deepens her despondency. When Curzon attempts mending their friendship, Isabel gives him only acrimonious silence. A visit to the Tea Water Pump, however, briefly lifts her out of the melancholy. An older man, named Grandfather, tells them all, “‘This is not our fight,’ the old man said. ‘British or American, that is not the choice. You must choose your own side, find your road through the valley of darkness that will lead you to the river Jordan’” (167). While his words are enigmatic, he is referring to the Jordan River as it features in the Hebrew Bible’s story of the Israelites crossing the river to find freedom. In much Christian tradition, the Jordan River symbolizes a threshold to freedom (and, historically, the Jordan has made its way into many spiritual folk and gospel songs). When Grandfather says, “This is not our fight,” he is invoking the Christian god. In so doing, he echoes what the Declaration of Independence asserts, that humans are given freedom by their Creator. While it is unclear what he means by the Jordan River when he tells Isabel to search for her own Jordan, he intends the mysterious statement to be encouraging, and his kiss on Isabel’s scar is a tender moment of humanity from an adult to a child. Rarely since her mother’s passing has Isabel known the compassionate care of an adult (with the fleeting exception of Jenny). The moment is also a recognition of her struggle and the darkness she has already endured on her journey to cross the Jordan.

Curzon has pledged his allegiance to the Continental Army in hopes of gaining his freedom through service to Bellingham, but his fellow enslaved friends are skeptical of this promise. Throughout the narrative, it has been Curzon who has reminded Isabel that the path towards freedom is not straightforward; however, he now appears to be the one most optimistic about quick liberation. Becky’s reports from the army encampment are grim, and Curzon will learn soon enough that the horrors of war will make gaining his freedom a traumatic process. Thousands of Black men joined both sides of the war effort following the promise that their service would lead to freedom. This presents a question of the morality of such a promise; these enslaved people—who were kidnapped from their ancestral land, brought to America in chains, and forced to work—still must promise military service to gain basic human rights. Curzon’s loyalty is admirable, but he should not have to surrender himself to a battlefield to earn his liberty.