Whipped slave
In comparison with her family, Sarah cares deeply about the slaves living in her house. Every time she sees a slave being mistreated, she remembers an instance when she saw a slave being whipped by his master. The image of the whipped slave is important because it is what made Sarah want to help the slave and what made her want to be different.
On the rooftop
Handful and Sarah become friends quickly and Sarah begins to teach Handful how to read even though she knew that it is forbidden. To celebrate one of their milestones, Sarah takes Handful to the roof where they drink tea and talk about their dreams and hopes about the future. The image of the two girls on the rooftop drinking tea is important because it was unheard of to see a slave girl and a white mistress sitting together like friends, talking and treating one another as equals. The image is thus important because it shows that people can change and that it is possible for the world to change.
Pregnant mother
Soon after Sarah’s efforts to teach Handful are discovered, her mother gets pregnant with another baby. Sarah is able to see her mother getting weaker and weaker and becoming more tired as the days pass. Sarah is scared when she sees her mother in that state because it serves as a remainder that one day, she will be just like her, just another woman getting pregnant and having a man’s children. The image of the pregnant mother also has the purpose of showing the limited position a woman can have in society and how a woman had no other purpose than bearing and giving birth to children.
A slave’s worth
While the family is away on a trip, Handful goes to the family’s library and looks through the books, trying to find the price she and her mother have. The narrator describes the book in which the prices are written and it is revealed that the slaves’ prices are written under the prices for various household items and goods from the farm. The description of the book had the purpose of highlighting the idea that in the world where Handful and her mother live, the slaves are seen just as another object that can be traded and sold off. The slaves appeared under the various tools owned by the master, thus pointing towards the idea that a slave was just another thing that could be easily bought by the master.
