Crafts Homework
When Crafts crosses out the line “what husband ever could agree with his wife,” I feel like she’s pointing directly to the way women, especially wives, are often pushed into silence within a marriage. It’s as if, by leaving out that statement, she’s showing us that female voices are constantly suppressed in a world where women—especially those who are enslaved or marginalized—barely have any room to speak up. This line, even though it’s said in a mocking tone by the wife, carries this heavy resentment that makes me think Crafts herself might be criticizing the power imbalance between husbands and wives, where a husband can easily ignore his wife’s opinions. By crossing it out, it’s like the character has accepted that voicing this complaint isn’t even an option, not even in writing. The whole chapter seems to open up the wider issue of people, especially women, struggling for control and independence in relationships bound by hierarchy, whether in marriage, society, or even race. By marking out the line, Crafts forces us to notice what’s both spoken and unspoken—challenging that silenced space women often occupy, especially those held down by societal roles like marriage and slavery.