Jubilee nicknames Weybridge “Jackal” because she is wary of the enemy’s cunning ways. How does their relationship reflect the precarious balance of trust that teeters on other aspects of the storyline, on land where dominance and control kept changing hands?
There are precarious relationships built on trust throughout the story, but the one between Jubilee and Jonathan is particularly sweet and poignant. I loved the way Bohjalian asked questions about war, the world, and humanity through the naive eyes of Jubilee who, at the age of 12, found it difficult to comprehend the things to which she was being subjected. Her observations were quite astute.
Libby and Joseph had a relationship built on trust, as well. She relied on him to keep the mill running and he trusted her to respect his status as a freedman & treat him with dignity. Her relationship with Sally was more fraught, at least from Sally’s perspective. Libby and Joseph had to trust Dr. Norton not to reveal the secret, and the men they encountered on the road failed to trust their representations, which horrific consequences. The Yankees had to trust her representations that she really was caring for Jonathan & send her and Joseph home with needed supplies.
Jonathan had to trust all of them because he was totally incapacitated and his well-being was literally in their hands. Without trusting them to care for him, he would have died in that home where the soldiers abandoned him. And his relationship with Libby grew into one of complete trust and fondness, as did his relationships with Joseph & Sally, who admired him for fighting to give them and so many others a life of freedom and opportunity.
Throughout the story, all the characters are in precarious positions. There is a need to trust each other even though there is a possibility of danger since the “other” is an enemy in some way or other. I loved Julbilee’s courage to speak out to Weybridge while also being cautious because he was from the other side.