Copper Sun: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

As Bill helps Amari into a small boat the next day, he mumbles for her to be brave and for God to have mercy on her. He won’t look at her. When the boat reaches Sullivan’s Island, Amari struggles to walk on the solid land. The sailors struggle too, but the slaves are forced to a large building a half mile from the beach. They’re offered food and water to drink and in which to bathe, and white men cover their wounds. A tall Black man with a limp enters the room. He’s dressed in a ragged version of the white men’s clothes, and he gives instructions in English.

When all the white men have left, the Black man switches to Ashanti. In a hurried whisper, he advises the slaves to learn English quickly but to not forget their own languages. They’ll be here for 10 days until they’re cleared of disease, and then they’ll go to auction at Charles Town. The soldiers and sailors call the man Tybee. Tybee passes out rough garments for the slaves and teaches them necessary words, like “massa” and “yessir.” One hot night, Amari can’t sleep. She sits up and sees Besa close to her. They greet each other and try not to cry. Besa asks her to think of him and smile whenever she sees the sun and the stars, and he says that she’ll always be lovely to him. Besa is interrupted by a guard slashing at him with a whip; he returns to the men’s area.

The next morning, the guards shackle the slaves and load them onto more boats. They arrive in Charles Town. Amari is in awe—there are no trees, but tall buildings instead. Amari and Afi decide that they’re in a backward world when they realize that all the Black and brown faces are probably slaves. Guards lock them in a shed for several days. One morning, white men slosh water over the slaves and force the slaves to slather their bodies in foul-smelling oil. Amari watches Besa and other men leave and hears them be auctioned off. She knows she won’t see him again.

By midday, it’s the women’s turn. Amari trembles; nothing seems to make sense in this evil land. She wants to die. The guards strip the women’s clothing, and Amari screams as a guard ties her hands behind her back. They put her in shackles and make her shuffle onto a raised table. None of the white men in the audience look at her with pity or care; to them, she’s no better than a cow. Only a white girl about Amari’s age seems uninterested in the auction. Amari looks up and wishes she’d died with Kwasi.