The Gold Necklace

At the end of chapter 14 Linda’s daughter, Ellen, receives a gold necklace from her father’s old mistress. Ellen loves the necklace and wants to wear it; while Linda on the hand sees it as a very kind gesture she doesn’t like it. Linda sees it as her daughter being bind to the man through slavery and sees the necklace as a chain. A chain that links her to slavery and holds her down. She doesn’t want anything on her daughter that would hold her down in any way or show that she is somebody’s property. Linda wants her daughter to be free and not have her feel like she is being held down by society or a chain that was given to her by a free white man. Since Linda sees it as a symbol of slavery and not just a gold necklace but a chain that links her to slavery, Ellen isn’t aloud to wear it. I understand where Linda is coming from, even though it was a nice gesture she doesn’t want to feel or have her daughter feel like she is being held down by society or by anyone else.