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Act 1, Scene 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Gem of the Ocean, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Meaning of Freedom
Economic Exploitation
The Value of Community
History and Trauma
The Power of Belief
Summary
Analysis
Selig is in the kitchen telling Black Mary about how everyone is talking about the fire at the mill. Everywhere he goes, he hears people chattering about the mill. Some white people are so incensed that they want to keep Black people out of Pennsylvania. Selig even overheard a man saying that he wished slavery would start again, adding that he would gladly fight another Civil War to make it happen. When Aunt Ester and Eli come in, they all talk about the fire and how it’s still burning. Selig then takes his leave, saying he has to go upriver and that he doubts he’ll be able to avoid trouble.
It makes sense that the mill was burned down, since it was a huge source of exploitation and oppression in the Hill District’s Black community. But burning it down also seems to have ignited the fury of white racists who want Black people to quietly accept injustice and subjugation. The fire thus uncovers the intense racism and unrest lurking just beneath the surface of American society in the North.
Themes
Citizen enters and proudly announces that he found two pennies. He didn’t, however, find Jilson Grant. Aunt Ester tells Black Mary to bring out a large quilt, upon which there is a map. She points to a part of this map and identifies the City of Bones, where everything is made from bone. Aunt Ester has been there. Her mother, her aunt, and three of her uncles live there. She says that the people who created it managed to make a “kingdom out of nothing.” These people were the ones who didn’t make it across the ocean from Africa the America. Instead of journeying on, they stopped in the ocean and established this gleaming city.
When she talks about the people who didn’t make it from Africa to America, Aunt Ester refers to enslaved Africans who were transported in bondage to America on slave ships. The City of Bones is a mythical place, but it stands for the living memory of the many people who died during the long, grueling passage. It’s not yet clear what the City of Bones has to do with the process of “washing” Citizen’s soul, but it seems that part of the ritual will require him to engage with the history of slavery and the memory of his enslaved ancestors.
Themes
Inside the City of Bones, Aunt Ester says, the people sing with burning tongues. There are 10,000 people, all of them calling out at the same time in song, their voices reaching out from the ocean. Aunt Ester herself crossed the ocean, weeping because she lost everything in her life. The only thing she had left was her ability to look at the stars, so she named them. When she was on the boat, she wondered why God let the wind fill the sails and push the ship forward. She couldn’t answer her own question, and she had no idea where the boat was going, which made the experience even more harrowing.
Aunt Ester reveals that she was brought from Africa to America on a slave ship. Her story invites Citizen to consider the terrible suffering that so many Black people experienced because of slavery, which was so cruel that it caused even the most spiritual people—like Aunt Ester—to question how God could let such a thing happen. Again, it’s not yet clear how Aunt Ester’s story will help Citizen, except for the possibility that considering the horror of slavery might help him put his own problems into perspective—after all, his difficulties with racist employers all trace back to slavery, suggesting that the cruelty Aunt Ester experienced on the slave ship hasn’t gone away. Rather, it has simply changed forms and become less overt.
Themes
As she speaks, Aunt Ester makes a small boat out of a Bill of Sale she has been holding. She tells Citizen that he’s going to take a ride in this boat. If he believes that the tiny boat will take him to the City of Bones, then it will. If he wants to have his soul washed, he’ll have to go to the City of Bones. He says that he’ll do whatever it takes, so Aunt Ester tells him to go prepare by taking a bath, dressing in his nicest clothes, and trying to pray. After he’s done all of this, they will go to the City of Bones.
Citizen has to commune with the spirits of his enslaved ancestors in order to cleanse his soul. The play thus hints that engaging with the horrid history of slavery will help Citizen contextualize his own suffering, which in turn will help him feel more at peace with himself.
Themes
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