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Part 3, Chapter 10
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
James and the other men approach the women’s quarters, which are guarded by a white overseer. He tells the men they will take everyone here north with them, and he instructs one man to take out the overseer. James uses a match to light the dry cornfield ablaze, provoking screams from the plantation house. In front of one shack, James sees Sadie and runs to her. Lizzie is with her, and the family reunite in disbelief. The enslaved people run past the fire and the old enslaver, who is shouting at them to help. James cocks his pistol at the man, declares himself “the angel of death […] James,” and shoots him dead. James runs with Sadie and Lizzie up the road.
The plantation’s lax security suggests the enslavers believe their slaves are too submissive to revolt. James’s journey culminates here with the successful reunion of his family. The enslaver’s demands for help presume those he has enslaved will remain loyal to him. Having dropped all pretense of ignorance and simplicity, James responds to the man by reasserting his own chosen identity, emphasizing that he is no longer sacrificing his personhood for the comfort of others.
Themes
