The lifestyle in 1775 is a lot different for a 13 year old boy than it is nowadays. Nathaniel Dunn is living through the Revolutionary War and is a servant in Virginia. This book really makes you think about how hard life was in this time period and how it compares to now.
When I think of life as a 13 year old I think of a life that is hard at times going through puberty and all of the challenges that go with being a teenager. But there is a lot of stuff that is pretty easy like you don’t have to work as much as they did back then, and you didn’t need to fight for your country at this age. Nowadays there is a lot more technology that make life a lot easier. Now when you have dirty clothes you can just throw them in the washer and drier, where as back in this time you had to wash them by hand. I can’t imagine how hard Nathaniel’s life was. You can see how hard Nathaniel’s life is in this quote. Nathaniel is being sold and the auctioneer said “ nine shillings” and then he shoved Nathaniel. That quote showed me how hard his life is.
Even though life now is pretty easy the lifestyle of this time period is a lot harder. Just imagine the pain and anxiety these people go through living in this time period. Every day they have to go feed the animals and work on the farm. I could never be able to do that every day. This quote showed me just how much they have to work. “And here I go again out to the stable for another useless day.” This quote was said by Nathaniel. I respect how much these people did to put our country where it is now.
All of these reasons show how hard the lives of these people really were but the lesson that can be learned in this story is probably the most important part of this story. I believe that L.M Elliot wrote this story not to only reflect on the quote of “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death” but to show all the hardships that go into living in this time period. Back in the day the Americans said the famous quote “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” means that the Americans were angry that they had to follow the kings rules they were willing to die for their liberty. That shows what L.M Elliot means by writing this story.
(Elliot)
Bibliography
Elliot, L.M. Give Me Liberty. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
Elliot, L.M. Give Me Liberty. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
