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Part 2, Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in James, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Speech, Performance, and Willful Ignorance
Identity, Narrative, and Agency
Racism, Dehumanization, and Hypocrisy
Innocence vs. Disillusionment
Family, Alliance, and Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Jim wakes, and the three fugitives plan to continue their journey toward the river. Norman remarks that crossing the river will land them in a slave state, but to Jim it makes no difference. Sammy agrees, saying the only place they can ever be is slavery. She asks why Norman identifies as Black when he can pass for white, and he responds that he does not want to be “one of them.” They run across the terrain, finally reaching the Mississippi, which Sammy has never seen. Neither she nor Norman can swim, so they make plans to build a raft, assuming they will be captured unless they cross the water. Norman goes off in search of rope.
Jim and Sammy both assert there is no difference between slave and free states, pointing to their general disillusionment with the world. As Sammy describes it, slavery is an inescapable part of her existence, integral to her identity. Because he can pass as white, Norman has more choice than Jim or Sammy, but he understandably associates whiteness with cruelty, and feels loyal to those who share his experiences as an enslaved person.
Themes
Sammy tells Jim she was born at the mill, and Henderson has raped her since she was little. Again, Jim imagines Lizzie and is enraged. They arrange wood for the raft and wait. Norman returns with rope, but in a panic—Henderson is coming. The enslaver appears before they can tie the raft together, and Jim shoves them all into the river clinging to logs. They drift apart as Henderson shoots at them from the bank. Jim is able to get hold of Sammy and Norman and lash their logs together. Norman cannot understand why Henderson would shoot them, since “You can’t work a dead slave.” Jim reminds him, “They hate us.” Sammy is limp in Jim’s arms as they float downriver.
Even when injustice and violence are commonplace experiences, they still provoke extreme reactions, as exhibited by Jim in this scene. Henderson’s anger, on the other hand, seems motivated by hatred and a desire to subjugate the escapees in death if not in life. That Henderson would prefer to see them dead than recaptured or free is proof that he does not view enslaved people as humans with utility, but as beings who must be controlled at all costs.
Themes
The river deposits the group onto a small beach. Jim carries the lifeless Sammy and sees that she has been shot and killed. Norman says Jim should have left her behind, but he disagrees—Sammy was already dead when he found her. Though Jim does not believe in God, he decides to bury Sammy in case she did. He and Norman dig a grave for her on the beach and send her off with a short prayer. Jim knows the river will uncover her body sooner or later, and he muses that it will “claim us all in due time.” He tells Norman he’ll never be a slave again.
Although Sammy was not submissive like Luke, Henderson had already taken so much of her vitality and will that Jim feels she has been dead for a long while. Though he does not state outright that death is preferable to the abuse Sammy suffered, it is suggested. Jim’s compassion for the young girl is evident in the careful act of burying her. His refusal to return to slavery implies that he, too, would rather die than lose his autonomy again.
Themes
