Sarah and Handful have a strong bond, despite their inequalities. A white/black friendship was extremely rare in the 1800's, which is why Sarah and Handful were taking a risk by becoming closer than slaves usually do with their owners. The novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd goes back and forth between Sarah and Handful's point of view, depicting their feelings and emotions throughout the novel. Sarah strives to someday free Handful from the depths of slavery, hence becoming a Quaker and teaching Handful how to read and write. There are a few things that tie in to the importance of the friendship between Handful and Sarah, like Sarah's drive to abolish slavery benefiting both her and Handful in several ways. The diversity between…show more content… I think the first time Sarah truly understands what Handful is going through is when Handful has an accident on the Grimké's rug. Sarah knew that Handful didn’t mean any harm, so she obviously felt bad for her. Sarah asks her mom, “‘you didn’t punish Hetty, did you? I asked.’ ‘Do you think me inhuman, Sarah? The girl had an accident. What could I do?’” (Kidd 16) If Sarah were in Handful's position and got caught in a situation like this, Handful would have definitely paid Sarah the same respect that she did for Handful. When Sarah's father passes away, Handful understands that Sarah will need time to grieve. While Sarah is grieving, she writes a letter to her mother, informing her of her father’s death. “I wrote a solicitous letter to Mother, explaining the unexplainable: Father had died and I wasn’t coming home straight away. I need to grieve alone.” (Kidd 191) Just like Sarah understood when Handful had an accident, Handful sympathizes for Sarah when her father dies. Handful knows how Sarah deals with grief, so she lets Sarah grieve on her own and does not bother her by ambushing her with letters and notes. This portrays that Sarah and Handful are never oblivious to each other's
