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
Well after dark, Amari leads Polly and Tidbit out of the swamp. They’re covered in thick black mud. It begins to rain not long after and though Amari is tired, she insists they keep moving while the dark can protect them. They detour around Savannah, and Amari teases Polly about Nathan. Amari says that evil men father good men, but she has no answer when Polly asks about Clay. At daylight, they find a small shack that looks like a hunter’s shelter. It looks like it’s been empty for a long time, so the girls and Tidbit crowd in.
When Amari says that evil men father good men, it’s a nod to the idea that experiencing mistreatment makes a person more empathetic and encourages them to treat others better. That clearly doesn’t hold true Clay—though aside from Mr. Derby’s neglect when Clay was little, it’s unclear if Clay actually experienced any abuse or mistreatment at the hands of his father.
Themes
Amari snaps awake when she hears a woman bellowing for someone named Patrick. Tidbit shrieks as the door flies open. A woman dressed in buckskin stares them down and asks where Patrick is. Polly answers that she hasn’t seen anyone, that they came from Savannah, and that they’re sleeping. At this, the woman doubles over with laughter. When she recovers, she confirms that Amari and Tidbit are slaves and learns that Polly is an indentured servant. She says that the punishment for runaway indentured servants is the pothook—an iron collar with hooks on it. Punishment for slaves is worse. She introduces herself as Fiona O’Reilly and asks Amari if Tidbit is hers. Amari says that he is.
When Amari answers that Tidbit is her son, she takes on the responsibility not just of encouraging him to remember Teenie’s stories. She also makes a promise to tell her own stories to Tidbit and ask him to carry those forward as well. Though Fiona doesn’t try to hide that punishment for indentured servants is awful, she also doesn’t try to sugarcoat what happens to runaway slaves—leaving it ambiguous leaves it up to the reader’s imagination, but Clay made it clear that it’s mutilation or death.
Themes
Fiona says that the girls and Tidbit can’t stay in the shelter; Patrick is good but hard—though he’s lazy and prefers hunting to farming, which is why Fiona is dressed like she is. Polly says they’ll go and that it’s been a long journey. This makes Fiona think that Polly lied about where they came from. She agrees to help them and stows them in a wagon in her barn. On the walk there, Amari notices slave quarters. She asks if Fiona keeps slaves, and Fiona says that everyone has slaves—but Patrick is a good man who “does not mistreat his property.” Amari can’t fathom how Fiona thinks owning slaves is fine if they’re treated well.
As far as Fiona is concerned, the issue isn’t the fact that Patrick owns other human beings—the issue is that other people are physically violent or cruel to their slaves. Though Fiona and Patrick don’t seem as cruel as Mr. Derby and Clay, they still view Black slaves as “property” rather than human beings. This reflects Fiona’s own privilege—her farm likely requires the labor of many people, and she probably shares some of Polly’s earlier views that Black people simply belong in slavery.
Themes
Polly asks why Fiona is helping them if she has slaves. Fiona explains that it’s Patrick’s business when he brings home slaves or not. As a woman, it’s not her place to get involved. However, if she has the opportunity to make her own choices, she’s happy to help them be free—and until this moment, she didn’t know this about herself. She bustles away. Polly whispers that Fiona seems like a good woman, but she’s afraid and seems to have never gotten to make her own decisions before. The barn opens, and a stooped and thin Black man comes to harness the wagon. Amari recognizes the voice and asks the man his name. He says his name is Buck, but Amari begins to cry. In Ewe, she asks if he’s Besa. He softly asks if she’s Amari, and Amari runs to him.
Here, Fiona elaborates and makes it clear that she chooses to help Amari, Polly, and Tidbit because she never has the opportunity to make her own choices elsewhere. The fact that this choice has to do with slavery means little to her; it’s simply the first time she’s gotten to make a meaningful decision all on her own. However, it’s also worth noting that helping Amari and Tidbit is essentially a way for Fiona to thumb her nose at other men like her husband—it allows her to feel powerful.
Themes
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As Amari reaches Besa, he puts a hand out. Amari sees that Besa is changed: his right eye is gone, his face is scarred, and half his teeth are gone. He spits that he’s had five owners, and when Amari insists that they’re alive, he says he’d rather be dead. Amari says that she hasn’t been treated well either, but she points out that they’re alive. Besa says that his spirit is dead and that he lives in constant pain. Amari invites him to come with them, but Besa says that freedom doesn’t exist. He’s tried to escape several times and he no longer believes in anything. He cautions Amari against trusting a white girl and says he doesn’t take risks anymore. Amari, however, says that Polly is her friend. Besa says he has a woman here who doesn’t have dreams. He finishes harnessing the horse, and Amari knows she’ll never touch him again.
Seeing Besa in this horrible, heartbreaking state makes the consequences of slavery abundantly clear to Amari and Polly. Clearly, slaves who show signs of life and a desire to be free are harshly punished until their spirits are fully broken, as Besa’s now are. Further, Besa has lost any ability to even consider trusting a white person. While this is entirely understandable given his experiences, this also illustrates how such horrific abuse shuts him off from potential avenues for friendship, no matter how rare interracial friendships might be in practice at this time.
Themes
Fiona bustles in, tells Besa to put hay in the back of the wagon, and swears him to secrecy when Patrick returns. She sends him away. Besa looks once more at Amari before he goes, but he doesn’t look back after that. Amari covers her face with her hands and lets Polly put a hand on her shoulder. When Fiona looks concerned, Amari straightens up. She struggles to hate what white people have done to her and Besa while still being grateful to Fiona and Polly for their help. Amari thanks Fiona. Fiona offers the girls clothes and gasps when she sees the scars on Amari’s back. She exclaims that Amari must’ve been very disobedient to receive a lashing like that. Amari is enraged, but she says simply that her master thought she was disobedient. Fiona also comments on Amari’s brand, making Amari feel ashamed.
Amari has to reckon here with the fact that not all white people are equally awful—but all of them, even Polly, have in the past or currently play complicit roles to the system of slavery. It’s telling, too, that Fiona insists Amari must’ve been disobedient to be whipped so badly. She seems to naïvely believe that no white slave owner would be outright cruel for no reason, something Amari recognizes as naïve. This again reflects Fiona’s relatively privileged place in society. She profits from slavery, and as a white woman, she’ll never suffer the abuse or indignities that Amari has.
Themes
After Tidbit changes, Amari shares with Fiona that they’re headed south. She explains that everything they know is gone. They only have hopes and dreams left. Fiona nods and says that her father came to the colonies for freedom and died. Patrick also works for freedom, and hopes and dreams are all anyone has. Amari wonders how a slave owner can talk about freedom like this. Fiona says that Spanish territory is too far away to walk, so she’s giving the girls the horse and wagon. Polly pulls out coins from Dr. Hoskins’s bag and offers them to Fiona. Tidbit hugs Fiona, who he says is soft like Teenie. Fiona offers them food and tells Polly that they can travel on the road if Polly can play the part of a mistress. As they drive away, Amari looks back for Besa. Hushpuppy leaps into Tidbit’s arms.
It’s worth considering that while the Revolutionary War is still more than 30 years away at this point in history, the “freedom” that the colonists fought for was really only afforded to white men who owned land until much later. Because Amari is both Black and female, her idea of freedom is very different from Fiona’s, which is potentially very different from how Patrick or Fiona’s father might think about it. And even in the present day, some individuals are still freer than others depending on their sex, their socioeconomic status, their skin color, and a host of other factors.
Themes
