| Abstract | This thesis focuses on the characters of four enslaved Black children in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Seeds of America (2008-16) trilogy. The series comprises three novels: Chains (2008), Forge (2010) & Ashes (2016). The story takes place during the American Revolutionary War and follows four characters on their way to victory and freedom. The aim of the thesis is to examine the portrayal of Isabel, Curzon, Ruth, and Aberdeen to determine how complex each character is. This examination begins with determining the main and secondary characters of the series, as well as the narrators. Next, the relevant genres represented in the trilogy are explained. This includes historical fiction, the neo-slave narrative, coming-of-age story, and the problem novel. The largest part of the thesis considers how the themes Family and Home, Spirituality and Religion, Relationships, Disability and Illness, Violence, War, and Identity are presented in the novels. These themes not only show who these characters are, but also how they are perceived by the American society of the time. The final part inspects how the individual novel titles, the trilogy title, and the front cover illustrations are related to the four characters and their adventures, and how closely the characters are influenced by the American Revolutionary War. The results of the analysis show that Anderson created a diverse set of characters, who all strive towards the same goal – freedom. Despite portraying a unique and interesting perspective of enslaved Black children, who grow into young adults, in the American Revolutionary War, the trilogy has not earned much critical response thus far. |
| Abstract (croatian) | Ovaj rad bavi se likovima četvero porobljene crne djece u trilogiji Seeds of America (2008-16) autorice Laurie Halse Anderson. Serijal obuhvaća tri romana: Chains (2008), Forge (2010), te Ashes (2016). Radnja traje tijekom Američkoga rata za neovisnost, te prati likove na putu prema kraju rata i slobodi. Cilj je rada proučiti prikaz likova Isabele, Curzona, Ruth, te Aberdeena kako bi se utvrdila kompleksnost svakoga od njih. Prvo se određuju glavni i sporedni likovi serijala te tipovi pripovjedača. Nakon toga, objašnjeni su žanrovi koji se mogu prepoznati u trilogiji: povijesni roman, neo-ropska pripovijest, roman o odrastanju (Bildungsroman) te problemski roman. Najveći dio rada razmatra kako su u romanu prikazane dominantne teme: obitelj i dom, duhovnost i religija, međusobni odnosi, invaliditet i bolest, nasilje, rat i identitet. Navedene teme prikazuju tko likovi jesu, ali i kakva je njihova pozicija u američkom društvu toga vremena. Posljednji dio rada tumači kako su naslovi svakoga romana, naslov trilogije te omotne ilustracije povezane sa četvero likova. Rezultati analize pokazuju da je autorica stvorila raznovrsnu skupinu likova, koji teže prema istom cilju – slobodi. Unatoč tomu što nudi jedinstven i zanimljiv prikaz porobljene djece koja postaju mladi ljudi u Američkom ratu za neovisnost, ova trilogija još nije privukla značajan kritički odaziv. |
