Identity in the first portion of Ch. 1

Very early on the book, I noticed something interesting. The first chapter is entitled, “Childhood,” and when someone asks me about my childhood, my first and natural response is, “Well, I grew up in Pittsburgh . . .” This was not the case for Linda. The first thing that we learn about Linda is about her father. He was a skilled carpenter; she takes pride in this. I feel that she says this right from the start to show the readers that her father, grandmother, and family were not “just normal slaves.” I think she takes some type of identity in this; she finds her identity in her father’s skill. He was not just a slave; he had useful skills, and many slaves were not educated in this way. Linda has so much pride in the fact that her father did know a trade. It is interesting to me that she did not start out with “My name is Linda, and I was a slave growing up.” She does not primarily see herself as a slave but as a daughter, a granddaughter, and a member of her family. Because of this, there is so much love and protection between the members of her family, and I believe that this will bind her to something greater and something beyond herself. I found it incredible that she took to much pride and found her identity in her family and their skills because many slaves did not have this outlet. They did not have the chance to grow up with their families, but Linda’s grandmother tried as hard as she could to keep them all together.