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Fiona O’Reilly
Cato is the oldest slave on the Derby plantation; he works in the rice fields but has a reputation for doing very little work and getting away with it. Though he has a sense of humor, he’s also serious and subdued when he describes the mind-numbing and exceedingly dangerous work of tending to the rice fields. His descriptions are what causes Polly to begin to rethink her belief that it’s only natural that slaves work in rice fields, especially when Cato notes that most slaves only survive an average of five years once they begin working in the fields. Cato is the one who shares with Amari and Polly that they should head south to Fort Mose instead of north, and he poisons and sickens Clay Derby, which makes it possible for Dr. Hoskins to free Clay’s charges.
Cato Quotes in Copper Sun
The Copper Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Cato or refer to Cato. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 21
Quotes
“And that’s just the first part. Then you gotta tend to the plants and flood the fields and cut the stacks and thresh the seeds—seem like it go on forever. That’s what be in your future, Miz Africa. And when he get old enough, this here boy’s future too.”
Polly looked at Cato in disbelief. “They’d put Tidbit out there?” she asked, horrified. The thought of little Tidbit sweating and working in the dangerous swampy water made Polly feel ill.
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Cato Quotes in Copper Sun
The Copper Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Cato or refer to Cato. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 21
Quotes
“And that’s just the first part. Then you gotta tend to the plants and flood the fields and cut the stacks and thresh the seeds—seem like it go on forever. That’s what be in your future, Miz Africa. And when he get old enough, this here boy’s future too.”
Polly looked at Cato in disbelief. “They’d put Tidbit out there?” she asked, horrified. The thought of little Tidbit sweating and working in the dangerous swampy water made Polly feel ill.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
