I think tonight's reading by Harriet E. Wilson brought up a lot of different issues that were very important and prevalent during the time that it was written. I also think that although these issues were important, I also think that they were viewed very differently then. Two of the main things that I felt showed up very strongly in the reading were education and religion. As I read it I thought about it was two separate things but also how they relate to each other. For example, in the third chapter when Mr. Bellmont wanted Frado to go to school but Mrs. Bellmont and Mary don't want her to. It made me think about the idea that knowledge is power. Mrs. Bellmont doesn't want her to go to school because she knows that if she goes to school she will learn to read and write, which would then give her the power to think for herself and try to get out of the house that she is in. Even though she is not a slave and is just an indentured servant she is still treated like it and her "employers" still think of her as one.

They teach her the bible so that she can be a part of christian society and they can relieve some of their guilt, but they, mostly Mrs. Bellmont, don't want her learning too much because then she will be able to use the bible in her favor instead of theirs. I think Mrs. Bellmont is also afraid and would be embarrassed if Frado was able to go to church and be equal with whites, because this meant that in a way she failed to keep Frado oppressed.

The Bellmont family uses education and religion as a way to oppress Frado, with out her knowing it, but at the same time are trying to monitor it to make sure she doesn't learn too much and so that she doesn't begin to create her own beliefs and ideas.