George is a slave, owned by Robert Newsom, who embarks on a romantic relationship with Celia while Robert is still regularly raping Celia. Frustrated, George threatens to break off his relationship with Celia unless Celia ends her sexual “relationship” with Newsom. Celia’s inability to do so peacefully (since, of course, Newsom owns her and believes that he can do whatever he wants with her) leads directly to Robert’s death. George, it could certainly be argued, is a cowardly character: he knows that if he were to confront Robert directly, he’d be risking his own life; thus, he passes off his responsibility to Celia. But George’s behavior is also forgivable, considering how terrifying it must have been living as a slave on Newsom’s property.
George Quotes in Celia, a Slave
The Celia, a Slave quotes below are all either spoken by George or refer to George. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Avon Books edition of Celia, a Slave published in 1999.
Chapter 3
Quotes
Whether Celia's fourth, and emphatic, denial convinced Jefferson Jones that neither George nor anyone else had helped her kill Newsom cannot be ascertained from the evidence. What is clear is that Jones stopped his questioning at this point, probably convinced either that Celia was telling the truth or that it was unlikely that she would implicate George or anyone else under any circumstances.
Related Characters:
Celia, Robert Newsom, George, Jefferson Jones
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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George Character Timeline in Celia, a Slave
The timeline below shows where the character George appears in Celia, a Slave. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: The Crime
In the years leading up to 1855, Celia begins a romantic relationship with another slave, George. Although Celia stays in a special cabin at night, George often sleeps with her in...
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...of 1855, Celia becomes pregnant with another child. However, she’s unsure whether the child is George’s or Robert’s. Therefore, George faces a challenge. He can confront Robert and tell him to...
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...that he must stop raping her, but doesn’t say that she’s in a relationship with George—instead, she tells Robert that she’s been sick because of her pregnancy, and doesn’t want to...
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Chapter 3: Inquisition
...hunting in vain for any trace of him. As the search proceeds, someone suggests that George might know something about Robert’s disappearance.
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...Powell, one of Robert Newsom’s neighbors, and the self-appointed leader of the search party, finds George and demands information. Powell is, in many ways, like Robert: both came westward in search...
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George is understandably frightened when Powell demands information about Robert Newsom. He wants to protect Celia,...
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...a kitchen. This report also claims that Celia may have had help from another slave, George, and that she killed “without any sufficient cause.” Many newspapers pick up the story of...
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George is in a precarious situation. Even though Celia has confessed, the Newsom family suspects him...
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...so. She insists that she had no help in killing him. Jones tells Celia that George has run away, hoping that she’ll implicate him in her crime. Even so, Celia sticks...
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Chapter 8: Conclusions
...to help female slaves. When faced with a choice of protecting himself and protecting Celia, George chose to protect himself, and the jealous tensions between George and Celia were, in all...
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