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The conversation took a human turn when Clara discovered that Isaiah could read, something forbidden and severely punished for enslaved people. He had taught himself in secret, reading old newspapers, sermons, and books borrowed from the library at night, when the house was asleep.
They talked about Shakespeare. Isaiah confessed that The Tempest was his favorite play, and offered an interpretation that shook Clara: Caliban wasn’t a monster, but someone whose home had been stolen and who was called a savage so that others could feel superior . The question hung between them: who was the real monster?
Mutual recognition
In that exchange, Clara recognized in Isaiah not a “brute” or a tool of his father’s plan, but a person forced into an impossible situation, just like herself. When she told him this, the man’s eyes filled with tears, which he tried to hide in shame. Clara asked him to call her by her name when they were alone, aware that she was asking for something dangerous, but needing the world to change, even if only by a millimeter.