Lena is a house slave on the Derby plantation. Amari and Polly have little contact with her, though they do sometimes spend time together working in the kitchens. Lena is jealous of what she perceives as Mrs. Derby’s cushy life, and she doesn’t buy Teenie’s insistence that Mrs. Derby lives a life much like theirs due to Mr. Derby’s overbearing, controlling nature. When Mrs. Derby goes into labor, Lena disappears—suggesting she knows that Mr. Derby isn’t the father and doesn’t want to be around to get in trouble when the baby is born.
Lena Quotes in Copper Sun
The Copper Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Lena or refer to Lena. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 20
Quotes
“Money ain’t everything, chile. And ain’t none of his money belong to her—she got ‘bout as much chance to use his money as you do.”
“Yeah, but she ain’t no slave,” Lena insisted.
“Pretty close to it,” Teenie said. “He decide where she go, who she talk to, what she wear—everything. She just sleep in a better bed than you do!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Copper Sun LitChart as a printable PDF.
Lena Quotes in Copper Sun
The Copper Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Lena or refer to Lena. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 20
Quotes
“Money ain’t everything, chile. And ain’t none of his money belong to her—she got ‘bout as much chance to use his money as you do.”
“Yeah, but she ain’t no slave,” Lena insisted.
“Pretty close to it,” Teenie said. “He decide where she go, who she talk to, what she wear—everything. She just sleep in a better bed than you do!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
