Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Copper Sun, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Slavery, Dehumanization, and Resistance
Horror vs. Beauty
Friendship
Memory and Storytelling
Gender, Race, and Power
Summary
Analysis
Polly believes that crying shows weakness and is a waste of time—tears didn’t keep her father out of prison or save her parents when they died of smallpox. Mr. Derby’s son Clay arrives, whipping a well-dressed slave who’s struggling with heavy supplies. The slave, Noah, doesn’t try to stop the abuse. Polly marvels that the slaves never seem bothered by all they suffer; she wonders if they just don’t feel pain. Polly asks Clay if the Derbys dress all their slaves so finely. Clay furiously reprimands Polly for speaking, but Polly pursues her questioning. Clay finally laughs and says that his father likes to dress his driver nicely when they come to town. Polly asks why he hits Noah, then—she doesn’t like Black people, but she doesn’t think they should be beaten all the time. Clay explains that the slaves expect it, and it’s how he shows he cares for them.
Polly is understandably jaded, given how much loss she’s suffered. However, this doesn’t excuse her clear racism or her unwillingness to see the humanity of the Black slaves. It’s telling that she marvels at how much slaves will put up with, as this suggests that she doesn’t fully understand the power structure. If slaves resist, they’re beaten more, tortured differently, or killed—so from a survival standpoint, it’s better to just put up with the whippings. Clay, however, has grown up believing that abuse is a kind of love. This is horrifically misguided and blatantly false—and it’s a belief he can hold only because as a white man, he has a great deal of power in the colonial system.
Themes
Clay warns Polly to keep her mouth shut going forward. Polly insists she’s not afraid, but she feels nervous. Clay asks if she can read, and Polly nods, unsure if this is the right answer. He insists that women don’t need to read and warns her that if she teaches a slave to read, Mr. Derby will whip her. Polly is shocked; she thought that whippings were reserved for slaves. She watches Noah gently move the trembling slave girl onto a blanket as Mr. Derby approaches. Mr. Derby forces Polly to give her thoughts on the slave auction, scolds the slave girl for crying, and snaps at Noah to finish loading. When Noah is done, Mr. Derby orders Polly into the back of the wagon and introduces her to his “new little savage,” whom he suspects is the same age. He laughs, but Polly sees nothing funny.
Here, Clay makes it clear to Polly that she won’t receive special treatment just because she’s white—in his eyes, she’s little better than the slaves. Despite this, though, it’s telling that Clay and Mr. Derby actually address Polly as a human being rather than treating her like an animal. She may have much less power than the Derby’s do, but in their eyes, she’s still human. This passage hints that there’s potentially room for Polly to grow and develop empathy, since she at least notices Noah’s kindness toward Amari and doesn’t find Mr. Derby’s racist jokes funny.
Themes
The group begins its journey. Polly eyes the slave girl and tries to stay as far away as possible. Polly knows she’s pretty and she figures the slave girl is looking at her with admiration. The slave girl is ugly and even smells bad. Polly watches Clay spitting off the wagon until, several hours in, Mr. Derby asks Clay what he’s going to name his gift. Polly quietly suggests the girl already has a name, but Mr. Derby insists she’s wrong. Clay declares he’s going to name her Myna, because she belongs to him. Polly thinks Clay sounds extremely self-centered. Indulgently, Mr. Derby says he’s giving Clay the same gift his own father gave him when he turned 16—and someday, Clay will do the same for his son. Polly finds that she feels bad for the slave girl.
Even though Polly is fully able to see just how self-centered Clay is and recognize how silly that makes him look, she’s not able to notice the same quality in herself yet. For instance, Amari and her friends have so far described white men as looking sickly and unhappy, so it’s very unlikely that Amari is admiring Polly the way that Polly thinks she is. Again, though, Polly has room for change: it’s a major step that she feels bad for Amari once she realizes that Amari is here for Clay to rape. This suggests that as the girls get to know each other, they may bond over a shared hatred of Clay.
Themes
Mr. Derby also tells Clay that Black women are different, and choosing them for “special favors at night” reminds them who’s the master and who’s the slave. A moment later, the wagon lurches violently. Noah calmly apologizes and says that a mosquito must’ve bitten the horse, but Polly is sure that Noah knows exactly what’s going on with the horse. She also decides she doesn’t like Clay. The men go on to discuss Mr. Derby’s new wife and white women in general, whom Mr. Derby says should be treated delicately. Clay hates his new stepmother. He asks why his father purchased Polly’s indenture, but Mr. Derby is just thrilled that Polly’s indenture is so long. Clay laughs, calls Polly “Polly-girl,” and says that she’ll like it at Derbyshire Farms. Polly’s father used to call her Polly-girl, and she hates that Clay used this nickname.
Mr. Derby draws on the false idea that Black women are more promiscuous than white women—and he uses this to try to justify raping them, while also insisting that rape is a good way to control them. In essence, he’s trying to blame Black slave women at large for the sexual violence they experience, while also acknowledging that rape is dehumanizing and wears away at victims’ spirits. And in referring to rape as “special favors at night” rather than calling it what it is, Mr. Derby downplays a horrible act of violence. It’s also important to remember Clay’s earlier threats to Polly in the context of Mr. Derby’s opinion that white women should be treated well. Clearly, he’s only referring to wealthy white women—not to poor indentured servants like Polly.
Themes
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Polly focuses on the landscape and thinks of her past. After her parents died, she lived in the attic of a dirt farmer named Jeremy Carton. No one there ever spoke kindly to her. Polly vows to learn about how the upper-class lives while serving the Derbys so she can become a lady. When she wakes up from a nap, Polly catches sight of a white brick manor house ahead. It looks perfect and is surrounded by lush grass, fields, and slaves. Polly wishes she could own such a gorgeous property as several slaves rush out with refreshments. Mr. Derby ignores them and sends Noah to the right, down to a wooden shack. He orders the girls out of the wagon and tells Polly that she and the slave girl will live here. Polly must “break in [the] new African.”
For Polly, the house is a representation of all her dreams. It’s huge and white, and it represents an opulence she’s never experienced before. Therefore, it’s extremely disconcerting when Mr. Derby informs Polly that she’ll be living with the slaves. This forces Polly to reconsider how she thinks of herself in relation to the Black slaves. She’s grown up believing she’s better than they are, but being forced to live with them and “break in” Amari tells her that at least in Mr. Derby’s eyes, she’s little better than the slaves.
Themes
Polly is aghast and humiliated that she won’t be working in the house. She tries to push back, but Mr. Derby sharply tells Polly that this is her job: she must teach the slave girl English and obedience, and she must get the girl to Clay whenever Clay asks for her. Mr. Derby says that the girls will assist Teenie and be busy all the time, and they cannot question orders. He threatens to take Polly back to Jeremy Carton if she disobeys, and then he heads back to the house. Polly and the slave girl eye each other suspiciously.
Mr. Derby does his best to impress upon Polly that while she’s on his property, she has no power. As an indentured servant, she’s bound to do whatever he asks of her, no matter what Polly’s thoughts might be on the matter. With this, Polly is made to feel powerless—and while she doesn’t suffer like the other slaves do, she gets a taste of what they experience.
Themes
