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 hasn’t felt agony like this since her mother died; she clings to Amari as Mrs. Derby faints. Mr. Derby sends Clay to punish Sarah Jane. Then, Dr. Hoskins emerges, and Mr. Derby asks him to attend to Mrs. Derby—he says that she couldn’t handle seeing him discipline “some unruly slaves.” The doctor says nothing as he gathers Mrs. Derby and carries her inside. Then, Mr. Derby tells Teenie, Polly, and Amari to follow him. They stop at the kitchen, and he forces Teenie to call Tidbit. Then, he unlocks the smokehouse. He tells Polly that he won’t have liars in his household, scolds Amari for being trouble, and tells Teenie that she failed to obey. He says that he’s sending three passengers with Dr. Hoskins and Clay in the morning and pushes them all into the smokehouse.
The language that Mr. Derby uses to talk to the doctor betrays his cruelty once again. Murdering Noah and his wife’s infant daughter is “discipline,” not murder—to him, their lives mean nothing and are a fair price to pay if it means he gets to terrorize his wife and slaves for longer. The doctor’s behavior, meanwhile, suggests either that he’s afraid or horrified by what Mr. Derby did—but either way, he doesn’t stand up to Mr. Derby. In this sense, then, he is complicit in what is happening, even if he has legitimate reasons for not wanting to publically contradict Mr. Derby.
Themes
Mr. Derby says that he’ll sell Polly’s indenture to a New Orleans whorehouse. He tells Amari that he’ll find another “toy” for Clay—and Amari will bring him lots of money, since she’s “broken-in” now. Amari stares back stonily as Mr. derby locks the door. As he begins to leave, Teenie asks if he’s selling her too. Mr. Derby says he could never sell Teenie, so he’s selling Tidbit. Teenie wails.
Finally, Polly sees that Mr. Derby doesn’t actually respect her at all, despite her being white. In his mind, she deserves sexual violence and exploitation, just like the slaves do. And as expected, Mr. Derby wields Tidbit as a weapon to punish Teenie, showing again that children are at risk of being exploited as tools and punishments.
Themes
