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Chapter 7
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
Hours pass. Amari, hungry, nudges Afi, who tells her to feel the motion of the ship. She explains that they’re floating on the sea toward the edge of the world. There’s no land to escape to anymore. Before Amari can ask what Afi means, sailors arrive, unchain the women, and lead them up to the deck. Amari gasps when she sees that the land is gone. One woman clutches Amari’s arm as she lurches with fear, and another faints. The sailors throw briny water on the women, which stings. They point the women toward buckets to relieve themselves and then give them food. Then, a sailor calls the women monkeys and tells them to dance. The women have no idea what he means. A young sailor brings out a small drum and starts pounding a rhythm, but it’s dull and is no reason to celebrate.
Importantly, the female slaves don’t speak English. Because of this, though the women might not catch or understand the slur of being called a “monkey,” readers will—and this drives home just how racist and inhumane the system of slavery was. And in this case, while the women are certainly trapped on the ship and have few options for resistance, they’re even less able to resist the mistreatment because they have no idea what’s going on around them.
Themes
A whip lashes across Amari’s face, and she jumps away. The soldier holding the whip nods and jumps up and down. Amari realizes the men want them to jump to the rhythm, and reluctantly, the women comply. She figures it’s for exercise, but she’s horrified when the men walk among the women, who barely have any clothes now, to inspect and touch them. A huge red-haired sailor watches Amari’s face. He frightens and fascinates her. When the so-called dance is over, the soldiers tie the women to the sides of the deck and allow the children to run free. Though Amari is thirsty and hot, it’s more pleasant on deck.
The drumming and attempt at exercise are a clear bastardization of African cultures. It stands in sharp contrast to the fun-filled, exciting drumming during the celebration in Amari’s village—there, Amari felt at home and loved. In this situation, however, she sees that this is not just humiliating and offensive, but it’s also a way for the sailors to choose their victims to rape later. And because Amari knows how drumming and dancing should be, this experience is even worse.
Themes
Afi whispers to Amari that the men will come for them tonight. She counsels Amari to silently submit; fighting back will make things worse. Amari suggests that it’s better to die, but Afi sighs that the white men win when they die. Ashamed, Amari says that the men have already taken everyone and everything she loves—and now, they’re going to take the only thing she has left. Afi tells Amari that she must live, and then she looks away. Amari shudders as she thinks of the white men touching her, but she feels as though she can’t die. She watches as the male captives are made to dance, and then Afi notes that death has already claimed some. Sailors throw several bodies overboard. The male slaves return below deck. Amari watches the setting coppery sun and focuses on how beautiful it is. She hopes it’ll shield her from the ugliness to come.
Afi’s insistence that Amari has to survive and get through the abuse and humiliation is a way for her to ensure that the horrors female slaves suffer on slave ships is never forgotten. If slaves survive—one of the most significant acts of resistance in and of itself—and go on to tell others exactly what happened, it’s impossible to ever really forget the horrors they suffered during slavery. Meanwhile, Amari looking at the copper sun again to help herself feel better speaks to her optimism and tenacity—she’s still fighting, even if she’s terrified and wants to give up.
Themes
