William's escape

Will Landschulz

Am. Lit per. 2

Mrs. LaMagdeleine

Mr. Sands took William to the north with the promise of freeing him in five years.  William, instead of taking the offer, runs off with abolitionists, taking his freedom then instead of later.  There is also the chance that William could earn enough money to bring the rest of his family to freedom in the North.  I think he is totally justified in doing that.  He, unlike Linda, has never been willing to stay a slave, and would jump at the chance of freedom, even if a better plan were five years down the road.  As for Mr. Sands, his confidence in William's return is misplaced and dismissive of William's character.  He also displayed lack of foresight in not telling William whether some arrangement had been made for him, as this uncertainty only gave greater clout to the argument for escape.