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Chapter 5
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
In the morning, Amari wakes up cold. She remembers everything from the night before, and Afi ominously says that this is the day. After another generous meal, guards kick the men, shackle them together, and march them away. Besa gives Amari a sad look as he goes, and Amari sobs. Afi notices, asks about him, and then tells Amari to forget him. Harshly, Afi says that Amari is a slave now. Amari asks why Afi won’t just let her die, but Afi gently says that Amari has a power in her. She believes that Amari must remember the past and tell future generations—because Mother would want her to and because the sun keeps shining.
Though it may seem a bit odd that Afi tells Amari to forget Besa but to remember everything else, she’s likely just trying to protect Amari. If Amari “forgets” Besa in that she stops hoping for their shared future together, she may be able to better move on. However, this doesn’t mean that she should block out her memories of Besa or of her life before slavery altogether. Rather, it’s her responsibility to keep those memories alive for future generations.
Themes
The soldiers come for the women next. They shackle the women together in pairs, and fortunately, Amari and Afi are together. They then march down to the shore. Amari is terrified of the churning water, but she knows it won’t kill her today. The men shove the women toward small rowboats and Amari struggles to stay upright. Afi falls, and a soldier has to haul them upright again and into the boat. As the boat leaves the shore, the women in it shriek with terror. Their captors whip them, and Amari wonders if they do so to try to quiet the women. Nothing makes sense. She lifts her head and looks back at shore, where soldiers are loading another rowboat of slaves. She knows she’ll never see this place again.
Because Amari is a fundamentally kind person who looks for the good in everyone, it’s unthinkable to her that men would want to whip others just for the sake of doing so—but in this case, her attempts to humanize her captors come up short. Their goals are likely to frighten and dehumanize the women to make them more compliant, which will eventually make them more useful slaves. If the women believe they have power and agency, they might resist—and so their captors can’t let the prisoners think that they have any power.
Themes
