Paradox and Empathy (Tales from the 5th Grade)

Reading good literature with my students is a great joy, yet often my hardest work. In our latest literary venture, I am reading aloud a historical fiction book called Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Set during the American Revolution, the main character is a young slave girl living with her masters in New York City as the fight for independence begins. Through this story we are exploring the great paradox of a country founded on the concept of freedom, while cruelly enslaving people of color. In it we read the soaring words of our founding fathers about holding all men created equal, while looking at the ways some people were considered and treated as less than human.

Honestly, at first, I was highly skeptical my students would grasp the big concepts of this story. As usual, they have proven me wrong and are rising to the occasion. Not only are they following the story, they became outraged at the history and they are asking me hard questions. To many of these questions I just have to answer, "I don't know." Sometimes I will try to throw in a "We can do better" tidbit.

Another purpose with this book is to model to my students that good readers follow the main character so closely, that they feel they are in the story with the character, feeling what they are feeling. We define this as empathy. There is a point in the story after the slave girl Isabel tries to run away, she is put in stocks and branded on her face with an I for insolence. With my students gathered around me, I read to that scene but could not continue because my tears were falling, my heart was hurting, and my voice was shaking. The class sat silently during that holy moment as one boy slowly, quietly brought me a tissue. As I tried to compose myself I heard another student whisper, "That is empathy."

"Yes, that is empathy." I said. And we read on.

PS. "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." ~C.S. Lewis

It's a great book and I highly recommend it to all.