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Chapter XX–Chapter XXIV

Summary: Chapter XX

Isabel describes a city overwhelmed with the hot stench of unwashed soldiers and the joyful celebration of troops when independence is officially declared. Many have fled, but Madam stays, dulled by a drink prescribed for melancholy. With Becky ill, Isabel does the shopping. She witnesses men topple a statue of King George in the town green, only to discover that it was not made of gold but of lead, so they chop it up to be melted down to bullets. Isabel picks up a sliver of lead and puts it into her pocket. After a visit with the reverend’s wife, Madam turns kind toward the servants, bakes a gingerbread for them, and tells Isabel to take the night off while she plays cards with Ruth nearby. When Isabel goes to the cellar to change clothes, planning to read some Crusoe while she can, she is overcome with weariness and goes to sleep, something she says she will regret.

Summary: Chapter XXI

Isabel dreams about a map that turns into eels. When she wakes, she realizes that Ruth is gone, and Becky admits that Madam says that she has sold Ruth to a physician in the West Indies. The sweet milk Madam made for Isabel made her sleep too soundly. When Madam appears on the stairs, Isabel confronts her and accuses her despite Becky’s admonitions. Madam throws a framed painting at Isabel, which gashes Isabel’s head, and Isabel runs out of the door that Becky has opened for her. She runs through the city into people and a kind blacksmith and keeps running until she reaches the patriot headquarters and announces the password. She begs Colonel Regan, who is being shaved, for mercy and justice when Madam appears asking for her “property” to be returned. Madam offers to sell Isabel to Regan, but he refuses and agrees that Isabel must be returned. The barber signals Isabel to run for the open window. She tries but fails.

Summary: Chapter XXII

Isabel is beaten and dragged through the streets to a basement jail where she shares a cell with a madwoman. They hear cannon fire, marching boots, and screams from above. She remains in the cell for three days with rats, flooding, and mad crying. Isabel appears in court, where Madam feigns tears and demands that Isabel be punished with a brand of “I” on her face for Insolence, a permanent reminder of her crime. Madam claims that Becky, the sole witness, is ill and cannot testify. The judge agrees and orders the branding.

Summary: Chapter XXIII

Isabel is dragged by a rope that ties her wrists to the stocks outside the prison yard where a blacksmith prepares the branding iron. A crowd gathers and shouts obscenities at her and two other prisoners in an outdoor cage. She can barely stand for the pain and fear. The branding “cooks” her as the crowd quiets and leaves. The ghosts of her mother and father embrace Isabel as she melts into unconsciousness.

Summary: Chapter XXIV

Isabel dreams of her ancestors, Ruth, and Curzon. While unconscious, Isabel feels as though a hive of bees lived inside her, swarming and vibrating under her skin. She wakes in an unfamiliar, quiet, comfortable room with lace curtains and a soft bed. When Lady Seymour enters, she explains that Isabel has been unconscious for six days. Her cheek still burns, but she is recovering. Lady Seymour must return her to Madam as soon as Isabel is able. Her Dutch servant prepares a sweet-smelling bath, and they feed her a sumptuous meal. Her clothes and shoes have been cleaned. Lady Seymour walks with Isabel back to the Locktons’ house. Isabel enters the home through the back door while Lady Seymour knocks on the front. This chapter marks the end of Part I.

Analysis: Chapter XX–Chapter XXIV

The conflict between the novel’s protagonist and antagonist, Isabel and Madam, reaches a boiling point in these chapters as Part I concludes. The violence begins when Madam throws a framed painting at Isabel, causing a bloody gash on her head and prompting Isabel to flee. Madam drugs Isabel so that she can send Ruth away without Isabel’s knowledge. Madam claims to have sold Ruth to a doctor in the West Indies, which infuriates Isabel to the point that she cannot hold her tongue. Isabel screams at Madam, “Answer me, you miserable cow. Did you sell my sister?” despite Becky’s pleas to stop and not cross a line that a slave must never cross. Isabel nearly escapes when she runs to Colonel Regan, but the officer adheres to the law and hands her over as a runaway slave. What ensues is torture.

Isabel endures three hellish days in a basement dungeon, with a ranting madwoman, rats, flooding, darkness, and cold, before she appears in court. Madam demands that Isabel be branded, like an animal, with the letter “I” on her cheek. Isabel’s mother and father appear “with their ghost tears.” This crescendo of cruelty forever changes Isabel but also connects her to her father, who also bore a scar on his face. The pain and humiliation are transformative, the damage irreparable, but this suffering leads Isabel further on her journey to insight, freedom, and love.

The image of buzzing bees in Chapter XXIV is Isabel’s way of naming the fire that has kindled in her soul. Sometimes, the noise and vibration are deafening, at other times faint, but the feeling is there almost constantly. The bees become a recurring symbol of what has been awakened in Isabel by the branding. Whenever she feels pain and fear most intensely, the bees return, giving Isabel both memory and strength.

On the novel’s other front—the revolution—independence is officially declared, and the city is overrun with soldiers who bring stench, brutishness, and grave danger to the civilians who remain. The sounds of cannon fire, marching boots, and screams dominate the nights as the war turns from possibility to reality. Hopeful patriots celebrate, and British troops gather. Everyone is on edge as the winds of war intensify. When the statue of King George is pulled down and cut into pieces in Chapter XX, the crowd rejoices. Ironically, the statue is not gold but lead, and it can be melted into bullets. The monarchy is expendable, not even real. When Isabel picks up a piece of lead from the street, she claims a piece of the revolution for herself.

Amid all this chaos, pain, and violence, Part I ends ironically with peace. Isabel wakes from six days of unconsciousness in the home of Lady Seymour, and Isabel appreciates being cared for by the kind Lady and her Dutch servant. It may seem like a fresh, new start, but it is not, for the law demands Isabel be returned to Madam and resume her duties. With a new scar and a new resolve to be strong and rebellious, Isabel enters the Locktons’ home by the back door as Lady Seymour knocks on the front.

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