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Chapter 22
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
Amari doesn’t remember being carried to the cabin. Any movement makes her scream in pain. For three days, she barely wakes and just dreams of her parents and of her pain. On the third morning, she opens her eyes and sees Polly. Polly helps Amari drink and says that the welts have finally stopped bleeding. Amari apologizes, but Polly storms around, throws a bucket, and says that Mr. Derby deserves to be whipped. She thinks he probably tripped Amari on purpose. Amari starts to move, knowing she must clean the carpet, but Polly assures her that she and Lena already did it. She tells Amari to work on getting better. Amari apologizes again for ruining Polly’s chances of working in the big house and starts to cry when she remembers that she’s headed for the rice fields. Polly says they’ll make her recovery slow and runs off to help Teenie.
Polly once wondered how and why slaves put up with so much abuse, and if slaves could even feel pain. This incident makes several things abundantly clear to her: slaves are people and absolutely feel pain, and they submit to the abuse because they literally have no other choice. Polly’s insistence that Mr. Derby probably tripped Amari speaks to how disillusioned she is with the plantation—and possibly, she’s disillusioned with becoming an upper-class slave owner more broadly. It’s a mark of how much Polly has changed that she focuses on healing Amari instead of wallowing about not being able to work at the house.
Themes
Amari drifts in and out of consciousness. She dreams of Besa and the hot sun over the rice fields. She dreams of Mother and, oddly, of Mrs. Derby. When it’s dark, Amari wakes up. Mrs. Derby is there, and Amari is so startled that she almost knocks over the tea that Mrs. Derby tries to help her drink. She apologizes, knowing that she must stink and that she’s “incapable.” Mrs. Derby apologizes for how Mr. Derby hurt Amari and helps Amari drink the tea. Over the next two weeks, Amari manages to stay awake for several hours at a time. Tidbit makes jokes when he can, and Teenie makes Amari special foods. One evening, Amari feels well enough to sit up. She and Polly discuss how Mrs. Derby visits Amari daily. Polly remarks that the woman looks sad, but Amari insists that she’ll be happy when the baby comes.
It’s telling that Amari is so ashamed in front of Mrs. Derby because she feels “incapable.” This shows that while she may be able to stay strong and resist the dehumanization inherent to slavery in many ways, she’s also beginning to truly believe the horrible things that Mr. Derby says to her. In essence, she’s possibly beginning to believe that she deserved to be punished for dropping the pie and shouldn’t hope for anything better. Mrs. Derby’s choice to help Amari and her apology, however, are kind acts that push back on this thought process.
Themes
After another week, Amari returns to work in the kitchen. She tries to stay invisible, and fortunately, Clay doesn’t call for her. Clay does send a bag of sweets for her with Tidbit, but Amari is disgusted and gives them to Tidbit. One morning, Teenie remarks that Amari looks sad. She says that the pain of the welts will fade, but Amari will have the scars forever. Teenie adds that Amari has a strong spirit. Amari doesn’t know why she has such a strong spirit—she’s just surviving. She thinks of how Afi told her the same thing, but she tells Teenie that spirits sometimes die.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that the beating had such a negative effect on Amari’s outlook. It plunged her into a world of pain and suffering for three weeks—and the emotional pain will continue for the rest of her life even after her physical wounds have healed. Though Teenie insists that Amari has to keep going, it’s far more difficult now that she’s seen another aspect of Mr. Derby’s cruelty and lack of care.
Themes
