Rebels Character Analysis

Signorile 1
Vincent Signorile
Professor Ciraulo
United States History 1/ HS-201-03
21 October 2016
Women in Rebels
Rebels: A Well-Regulated Militia is a graphic novel written by Brian Wood and Andrea Mutti. Rebels features newly married Seth and Mercy Abbot who each have different duties. Seth’s duty is to go out and fight with the fellow Green Mountain Boys against the British redcoats. The Green Mountain Boys were a small militia, which was founded by Ethan Allen (“Britanica 1”). Mercy’s duty is to stay at home and keep the house tidy, as Seth is gone. Eventually, when Seth returns home from war they have a baby, which Mercy is left to take care for several years without Seth, as Seth had to go back to war. One of the interesting
things the novel does is portray the Green Mountain Boys as a rag team of misfits. The misfits that not a lot people had any faith in, but ended up surprising almost friend by getting the job done. The conditions were not the easiest as Seth pointed out that he had a long brutal winter. Perhaps the most important material covered in Rebels is the roles women had, and the differences between those roles.
The main women character in Rebels was Mercy Abbot. She stayed back and took care of the house, while Seth and his gang went to war. Mercy was diligent with her duties, but also did not take being bossed around by Seth. As she says, “I hope you don’t expect me to fetch you a bath! On top of everything else” (Wood & Mutti 42). She is saying she is too busy with everything else she has to do. Most of their fights came from whether or not Seth should go to war. Mercy was unhappy because she wanted Seth to stay home to start a family, but Seth insisted her go fight for his country. According to June Nash, in the 1700’s, “women were accustomed to hiding their sometimes brash opinions and thoughts” (Nash 1). This shows that the part in the novel when Mercy displayed her thoughts to Seth telling him not to go to war, as not being historically accurate. Another part of the book that could be misrepresented according to Nash’s theory is when Seth comes back from war after being gone for seven years. She gives her angry opinions to Seth for not being there for her or her son, which she had to raise by herself.
One can argue that Mercy had the tougher job out of the two, especially when she had to raise her son by herself for all the years Seth was off fighting. A single parent, not knowing when your significant other is coming back had to take a toll on Mercy. On top of that, she had to protect their homeland along with her son, as she never knew when the enemy was about to come to her house. According to the academic website Gettysburg, in the 1760s and 1770s “Women living in the country were expected to do their productive work inside the home. Generally this work was done for the benefit of the family, and not the outside world. “Women’s Work” would have included such activities as spinning, weaving, and churning” (“Gender Roles in Colonial America” 1). This example mostly fits the description of Mercy, as when Seth was off fighting she had to do productive work inside the house. The description the novel had of Mercy was historically accurate in terms of women’s roles in the mid to late 1700s .
Sara Hull was introduced midway through Rebels.
Her husband was Sam Hull who was fighting in the war. Sara was known as a camp follower, which according to the website Colonial Williamsburg is “women who follow the army” and do so to seek “safety, shelter, food, and work” (“Women’s Service with the Colonial War” 1). Sara was portrayed in the novel as a tough woman who fights for what she wants. An example of this is shown towards the end of Rebels when after her husband Sam dies, she is told she cannot get full military benefits. She was immediately not happy about this and began to question why she did not get her full military benefits. According to Awet Amedechial, Some women “participated in the military side of the war. Many women found themselves in the position of having to defend their homes and families from attacks by the British and Native American troop” (Amedechial 1). This can be compared to Rebels, when before Sam died, Sara took his gun and began to shoot and participate in the war. Amedechial’s perspective is colored by women’s issues today in the sense that in today’s times there are many women soldiers who have the same roles men
have.
The story of Molly Pitcher can be compared to Sara Hull in Rebels.
According to Debra Kelly, Molly Pitcher could have gotten that nickname from carry pitchers of water to give to the soldiers during war (Kelly 1). Kelly goes on to talk about how the whole Molly Pitcher story is a myth and there is no evidence found of the story. Kelly said as the story went that the name of Molly Pitcher was Mary Ludwig Hays McCarthy. This Molly Pitcher story resembles Sara Hull in many ways, starting with the carrying pitchers of water, which was part of Sara’s job also as a camp follower. According to the Daniel Sivilich and Garry Stone, the Battle of Monmouth was the war that Molly Pitcher was
at.