'To the pillory, to the grave'
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do tronco para o pelourinho, e deste certamente para o tumulo,
from the stocks to the pillory, and from that assuredly to the grave,
The ladder reaches its terrible end. 'O pelourinho,' the pillory, was the public whipping-post at the heart of every colonial Brazilian town — the very symbol of slavery's sanctioned torture. And beyond it 'certamente' — assuredly, no maybe — 'o tumulo,' the grave. The narrator draws the straight line the system draws: from resistance, to the post, to death. This is the abolitionist heart of the book laid bare, and it is exactly the fate that killed Isaura's mother Juliana. History threatens to repeat.
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A Escrava Isaura 8.182 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/escravaisaura/8.182/