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Chapter 8
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
When it’s finally dark, the sailors come for the women. They untie and drag the women away to secluded corners of the ship. Afi goes without a fight, while Amari tries to make herself look like a child. The red-haired sailor grabs her, though, and pulls Amari to a small room. She’s shocked to see that these men don’t sleep on mats on the ground, but then she realizes what’s going to happen and looks for an escape route. He pushes Amari to the floor and says, “Scream!” She doesn’t know what he means, so he raises an arm as though to hit her. Amari shrieks. The sailor seems pleased, but he puts a finger to his lips and covers Amari’s mouth. He talks, but she has no idea what he’s saying.
Again, it’s significant that Amari doesn’t understand a word this sailor is saying, which makes the impending possibility of rape even more terrifying for her. Though the reader can infer that the sailor doesn’t actually intend to rape Amari, the fact that he still has to rely on physically scaring her to get her to comply and cover up what he’s doing means that Amari has even fewer reasons to trust white men, even if they do show her bits of kindness.
Themes
Then, the red-haired sailor takes something out of a pouch around his neck and offers it to Amari: it’s a small carving of a child. The man points from the carving to himself, then takes it back, kisses it, and pretends to rock it. Amari thinks the man is mad, or the carving is of his child. The sailor says “child,” but Amari is still confused. He offers her a dipper of fresh water and then says, “water.” After he repeats the word several time, Amari hesitantly says, “wa-ta.” This makes the sailor laugh. He says, “bucket” next, and Amari realizes that he’s teaching her his language. Catching on, Amari vows to be a good student. She thinks briefly of Father, who loved learning new languages, and her expression causes the soldier to look at her with concern. Amari is sure that Father’s spirit protected her from rape tonight.
As Amari begins to figure out what’s going on here—the sailor is trying to teach her English, not rape her—it’s telling that he leads by offering her a representation of a child. Though Amari is possibly too afraid to make the connection, he suggests that adults’ hope for a better future as represented by babies and children is something that exists in all cultures, even ones like his that engage in such inhumane acts as enslaving other humans. This, of course, isn’t to excuse the behavior of his fellow sailors, but it does suggest that there’s beauty and hope to be found everywhere.
Themes
The red-haired sailor teaches Amari a number of simple words and phrases. Knowing that the language is powerful, Amari soaks it all in. When the screaming elsewhere on the ship dies down, the sailor gives Amari more water, lets her relieve herself, and then gently ties her back up. Afi joins Amari not long after, bruised and bleeding. Amari is almost ashamed that she wasn’t raped, and when Afi asks, she realizes that the sailor showed her kindness. Afi is happy for Amari, but she warns her that many men will still rape her before the journey is over.
Amari fully understands that knowing English will help her get by and figure out how to respond to situations. Learning the language, in this case, is a way to ensure her survival. It’s worth noting that the sailor’s kindness is itself an act of resistance. But because the sailor is white and presumably wants to keep his job, he must resist in quiet ways like this that will escape his superiors’ notice.
Themes
Amari asks how long their journey will be; she’s never heard of journeys lasting more than a few days. Laughing, Afi says that this is just the beginning. Many will die, and they’ll all change. Afi says that they must find strength within. Amari feels powerless and says this isn’t fair, but Afi says that Amari’s destiny lies beyond. She won’t explain what she means.
As frustrating as Afi’s caginess about Amari’s destiny must be for Amari, it’s possible that Afi is simply trying to use the fact that Amari trusts her to get Amari to see the point in living. If she can make Amari believe there’s more to life than this, Amari has a better chance of surviving this ordeal.
Themes
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