The Glory Field

Shackles recur throughout The Glory Field. They symbolize the holding back of the Lewis family: physically, economically and emotionally. But, they also represent the strength of the family, their unbreakable bond, and their ties to the past. They are passed down, physically and metaphorically, from one generation to the next. Each time they appear, the context is different, and they are given a different meaning.

The shackles first appear in July 1753 when they are used to keep eleven-year-old Muhammad Bilal captive on a slave ship. They are literal shackles, but also a symbol of the condition of subjugation in which Muhammad lives. In April 1900, as Elijah is getting ready to leave town, Moses brings out the shackles and stands in front of him: “The first black man that we can remember in our family come here wearing these. This is where we come from, and what we overcome. It’s up to you where you go from here” (134). In January 1964, the shackles become a symbol of protest when Tommy uses them to chain himself to Sheriff Moser during a demonstration for black equal rights: “It’s the chain used to bring the first of my family to Johnson City over two-hundred years ago” (284). In 1994, the shackles have been purchased by Robert Lewis at an auction. When he dies, Malcolm Lewis inherits them. Malcolm realizes that there are tangible and intangible shackles. In the past these shackles may have represented being owned. Now, they are a symbol of everything the Lewis family has suffered and overcome.

For future Lewises, the shackles will be a reminder of the pain of the people before them and a promise to uphold the legacy of the people who sacrificed a lot to give future generations the rights they never had. The shackles show the bond the Lewis family will always have with their past, which only makes them stronger.