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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Copper Sun, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Slavery, Dehumanization, and Resistance
Horror vs. Beauty
Friendship
Memory and Storytelling
Gender, Race, and Power
Summary
Analysis
Mrs. Derby is motherly and caring, and Amari hears rumors that Mr. Derby controls everything she does. The slaves constantly whisper about her being pregnant. Every morning, Mrs. Derby comes to the kitchen, cheerfully greets everyone there, and plans the day’s meals. Teenie will prepare whatever Mrs. Derby wants, and no one questions her authority. Amari is fascinated with Mrs. Derby. The white woman doesn’t look at Amari like she’s an animal—she seems genuinely compassionate. One early morning, Amari almost runs into Mrs. Derby on the path. Mrs. Derby kindly asks how Amari is adjusting and says she knows what it’s like to be unhappy. Amari, shocked, and stares into Mrs. Derby’s green eyes. Mrs. Derby says that she knows about Amari and Clay and hopes that it ends soon.
It’s possible that because Mrs. Derby finds herself in what is likely an abusive marriage with Mr. Derby, she has a better understanding of what the slaves her husband owns experience on a daily basis. This isn’t to say that their experiences are equivalent—after all, Mrs. Derby hasn’t been kidnapped, renamed, and raped—but it does illustrate how sharing difficult experiences helps individuals develop compassion and form friendships. Her kindness toward the slaves is another spot of beauty amid a horrific circumstances.
Themes
That afternoon, Amari peels potatoes in the kitchen and listens to Lena, a house slave, gossip with Teenie. They argue about whether Mrs. Derby’s baby is a boy or a girl. Teenie hopes it’s a girl so that Mrs. Derby will have someone to keep her company. Lena doesn’t understand how Teenie can feel sorry for a wealthy white woman, but Teenie points out that Mrs. Derby doesn’t have access to her money and is pretty close to a slave, given how Mr. Derby treats her. Lena gripes about Noah, who came with Mrs. Derby and will become free when she dies. Lena wanders off, and Amari asks how old Mrs. Derby is. Teenie says that she’s only about 18. She’s just what Mr. Derby wanted: young, rich, and landowning.
Even as Teenie chafes at her own enslavement, she’s still able to sympathize with the mistreatment that Mrs. Derby suffers. And she tries to make Lena understand that while their enslavement is undoubtedly worse, Mrs. Derby, as a woman, still has very little power. Her wealth and status as Mr. Derby’s wife only protects her so much, since she lives in a world that elevates wealthy white men above everyone else. Learning Mrs. Derby’s age also likely makes her more relatable to Amari, as she’s only a few years older.
Themes
At dusk a few days later, Amari hears a man and a woman’s voice speaking quietly. The woman sounds upset. Amari is terrified—the other slaves are no risk to her, but she doesn’t want to run into Clay. The people seem to retreat, and Amari knows not to ask any questions. Every night, Amari collapses on her mat in the cabin. She thinks of how much she hates Clay’s bed and feels bad for the other slaves, who have their own gardens and children to attend to when they’re done with their work. The slaves sing late into the night. One night, Polly asks why they sing. Amari says that the songs fly free in the sky, and she thinks of Mother’s voice.
Amari’s terror when she thinks of running into Clay in the dark makes it clear that she lives her life in fear of what the white men who control her may do to her at any given moment. She has no power to control what happens to her—her only hope is to just avoid as many confrontations as possible. Meanwhile, the other slaves’ nightly singing is another form of resistance. Singing helps them remember who they are and where they came from, and as Amari explains, it allows one part of them—their voices—to be free.
Themes
