Sarah Grimke and me

The character I can relate to the most in the book, The Invention of Wings, is Sarah Grimke.  From a very young age, Sarah was a strong minded individual who constantly challenged, well, everything. She was determined to break down the barriers set in place by society and make her own rules.  For most of my life, in probably different ways, but maybe some the same as Sarah, I have confronted and overcame many of my own obstacles.

I believe it is important to make the right choices in life for the right reasons.  We should be good to one another because it is the right thing to do, not because we expect something in return.  Giving Handful back to her mother in protest of slavery is something that I would probably do.  Sarah believed that owning a slave, another human being, was just not right.  She wanted no part of.  Although, she later realized her mistake, she still did what she thought was the right thing at the time.

  I could also relate to Sarah was when Israel proposed to her and she denied him.  He did not just propose marriage to her.  He expected that she would give up her own life and just be happy living in his.  She declined his proposal, maybe because she realized that he did not love her the same way she loved him. But it was absolutely because she was not willing to compromise the person she had become.  Like her, I would never lose myself to be in any relationship with anyone.  If we don't stand up for what we believe in, or if we allow people to take away our passion, we can no longer claim to be who we were.