Once again, Christianity is associated with any good-doing.

Tom would choose a life of slavery rather than a life with an evil soul capable of something as heinous as owning/working slaves. He even worries about the fate of slave masters in their afterlife. Such compassion!

Eliza's maternal instinct and need to keep her son alive seems to be what is keeping them BOTH alive.

Eliza can't truly understand George's plight because she has not experienced such a degree of poor treatment for herself.

Using Christianity as a way to keep a slave bound by their slavery

There are worse alternatives to death--being mentally "broken", being someone's possession, being dehumanized, etc.

Quite the wedding! I didn't know slaves were allowed such elaborate weddings.

Another instance of the famous method of perpetuating oppression through hindering intelligence/education

Intriguing--A master feeling inferior to his slave

Sexual relationships between masters and slaves? Is that what Stowe is implying?

Shelby told Haley that he was going to "talk things over with his wife" regarding the deal. Apparently, this simply translates to telling her his decision.

What a concept: Getting into Heaven because your spouse was pious enough for the both of you.

Mrs. Shelby seems to care deeply for her slaves, according to what she says about herself.

Stowe is toying with the concept of what makes a person a person, as opposed to someone's possession.

Kentucky is a "nicer" place to be a slave, according to the speaker.

He's concerned with the loss of $1,000, but is not concerned with the mother who died after being separated from her infant child.

Dehumanizing to keep a clear conscience

Shelby still considers himself "humane" because he draws the line at splitting up a slave and his mother. The irony and hypocrisy here is immensely cringe-worthy.

Sexism is in the house. Women, according to Haley, can be easily persuaded if you offer to buy them nice things.

I looked this term up, because I didn't know its meaning. It means a person who is one quarter African-American by descent. I'm assuming this is a negative term.

Wow. And I actually thought this master was a nicer one, as far as a slave owner can be.

Jim Crow law reference

Humans are being "thrown in" to a deal like an extra candy bar into a shopping cart at a store. #slaverysucks

You need to be a good, educated Christian to be trusted.

Censorship! C'mon, Stowe!

Right away, this character is described as a pretentious man who holds the appearance of wealth and material possessions in high regard.

Things always seem hard until they become even more difficult!

I think both sides would be guilty of this sort of talk, Mary.

Disagreeing w/ God?

Now we know how long she was in captivity.

She is becoming rather brazen with her captors.

That's brutal! I understand suffering from hunger, but she could have broken/cut the food up for the poor child. After all, she had gotten her own piece. That wasn't very Christian of her...Hypocritical.

She doesn't seem nearly as excited as I would expect her to be when finding her niece.

She writes of this in such a callous, detached manner. She has surely become desensitized to violence during her captivity.

I think this is the first time that she has truly doubted her faith.

She is back to using her earlier terminology for NAs from the beginning of the story.

More anti-NA propaganda

I doubt the validity of this. This could be painting the "savage" narrative that Rowlandson knew would sell.

Forget it--we're back to "them" again.

It just occurred to me that Rowlandson is saying "we" now. There is not nearly as much of a divide in her mind as there was at the beginning of the story.

Wow. Mary is receiving a lot of anger and threats lately. The NAs have no patience for her right now.

I understand her impatience and frustration here. Her mistress is really coming down on her lately. And now, this setback all because the mistress cannot make the trek!

More aggression is shown by the Native Americans here than usual. This reminds of me of the threat to break Mary Rowlandson's face.

It's intriguing that her mistress throws her Bible out the window, yet another member of the tribe had given it to her. Maybe the mistress is angry about selling her to her husband.

Even within a slave/captive environment, the Native Americans around her still pay her for her services with food. Quite humane.

She's seeing a king? He can't be a real king. I'm rather confused.

She sees smoking as a vice and a time-wasting endeavor. That's funny to me, because I always think of practically all white people smoking during the days of thriving Native American tribes.

Although slavery is unkind, it is immensely kind of these men to give her food in order to comfort her while she is visibly distressed.

Wow! She gave him her most prized possession! That is a true testament to a mother's love.

This son is given a name, unlike the first one that visited her. How do her children find out where she is? Do they all (the family) know where each other are being held in captivity?

Extremely harsh. However, this could have been a threat with no intent behind it in order to scare her into working on Sundays. Still, this is extremely harsh.

It's hard to be picky when you're starving.

At least the Native Americans let slaves meet with their family.

Where did this son come from? Are they encountering other tribes where he is enslaved in one of them?

A gun for a person. Wow. I'm at a loss.

If only they would let this poor, enslaved girl be comforted by her mother as she wept.

OMG! Was her WHOLE family enslaved like her?

At the very least, her captors buried her baby. At least they have respect for the dead.

Now we know how this happened. She was kidnapped by one Native American and sold to another. I have never heard of slavery where a Native American owned a white person. Very interesting, yet abhorrent (as slavery is).

She credits God for her own willpower to not commit suicide. I understand having religious faith, but she should give herself some credit, as well.

I understand the metamorphosis she speaks of. Things always seem a certain way when they don't affect you, but once you truly experience them, it's no longer surreal. You feel in a way you never could have imagined.

This explains why the "baby" was talking before. She was six.

Wow. This description is absolutely crushing. "I sat with the picture of death in my lap." What a line. Now, she has nothing but her faith. Ugh...So dismal. I feel for this woman.

I assume the "master" is God...? Either way, this taunting is cruel.

Aren't they in a town where there is medicine for this poor child? Could the leaves help her?

Does she know Pepper from the past? Why is he simply visiting her and not trying to liberate her?

So, she blames God for her misfortune (as though she provoked it) and sees him as her rescuer, too? Interesting.

Not only is she strong and devout in her own faith, but she judges others who are "pagans".

Once again, God gets here through her strife. She clings to religion as her last hope or reason to go on.

I don't know what kind of resources the Native Americans had access to during this journey. However, even if they were lacking proper medicine, no one is even attempting to try and save this dying child, or care for Rowlandson's wound.

It's intriguing how, although she despised the trauma and strife she endured, Rowlandson believes that she wouldn't know God as well without having gone through it all.

At first, I was inclined to be abhorred by the Native Americans laughing at a mother and dying infant flying over a horse's head. However, after her earlier description of the ceremony, I can't trust her account 100%.

This seems like quite humane treatment for prisoners.

The baby said this? By "baby" does she mean our definition of "toddler"?

It's very interesting that the narrator goes from intense lamenting regarding her circumstance to a notion of, "But God will get me through it!" She is definitely strong in her faith.

The narrator and her wounded baby are prisoners to Native Americans. Where did the rest of her family go? It at least sounds like her husband is still alive. Why did he leave, and when?

Right away, we are given insight to the fact that the narrator is religious. She sees this whole ceremony as heathenish and demonic, simply because she does not understand it.

The narrator is obviously not cultured in what is taking place whatsoever. It seems like the account could be of a Native American ceremony.

This was a new word for me to add to my lexicon. I looked it up, and "doleful" means mournful or expressing sorrow. So, it's sorrowful, I believe.

Did she ask the "barbarians" who seem to be in control permission, or her fellow Englishmen? Also, I see sexual insecurity rearing its head.

So, Native Americans have been here. We know that we are in the US. However, the Native Americans have left. Why?

Here we go--time to divide a line between people. It is now an "us vs. them" scenario. I assume the "barbarous creatures" are the group opposite the narrator. However, I can't be sure. It's still early.

Adding insult to injury--The group is as downtrodden as it is physically injured. That answers my question regarding "we". It is obviously a group of people.

Is "we" a group she is in, or is it "we" as in "humanity"?

Why is the dead bride afraid of the shaman finding she and her new husband-to-be? Also, why is her husband-to-be completely fine with being taken by the dead bride? She didn't even ask if he wanted to be her husband. There is a great deal of female authority here.

Here, it is evident that hunting prowess is part of an Inuit man's status ( in a positive manner).

Why isn't anyone shocked to see this woman who they thought to be dead?

Question #1: Is this woman also the thong-seal?

Question #2: How/why did she leave her grave to find a husband? She's already dead.