March is first drawn to the slave woman named Grace. He meets her when he is a young man working as a peddler in the southern United States. Grace is a slave to Mr. and Mrs. Clement, who are plantation owners. She is literate, which is unusual for a slave. Grace has learned to read by a sort of necessity, because her mistress had wanted someone to read poetry to her. March admires her kind...
March is first drawn to the slave woman named Grace. He meets her when he is a young man working as a peddler in the southern United States. Grace is a slave to Mr. and Mrs. Clement, who are plantation owners. She is literate, which is unusual for a slave. Grace has learned to read by a sort of necessity, because her mistress had wanted someone to read poetry to her. March admires her kind and tender disposition. She is a beautiful woman and March is physically attracted to her. Grace later states that she feels he likes the idea of her more than her as a person:
He loves, perhaps, an idea of me: African, liberated. I represent certain things to him, a past he would reshape if he could, a hope of a future he yearns toward.
March later leaves and goes north. It is there that he meets Marmee, the daughter of a minister. She is spirited and has strong opinions. March is in awe of her brilliant mind. Like himself, Marmee is a dedicated abolitionist, which he admires. She is courageous and even helps slaves escape north via the Underground Railroad. She has a sharp temper when challenged, which March believes he can help her to control. He describes her temper as "the lawless, gypsy elements of her nature."
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