Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Gem of the Ocean, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Meaning of Freedom
Economic Exploitation
The Value of Community
History and Trauma
The Power of Belief
Summary
Analysis
It’s two hours later, and Citizen is sitting with Black Mary in the kitchen. He wonders if Solly really burned down the mill, but Black Mary says it doesn’t matter—Caesar is going to track him down and kill him either way. Changing the subject, Citizen notes that Black Mary is wearing a blue dress that reminds him of a woman he once saw at a dance. They went home together that night. The next morning, he woke up and she was crying, but he didn’t ask why—he just let her weep. When he left, he couldn’t stop looking back as she stood in the doorframe. He often lies awake at night thinking about what he’d say to her if he ever saw her again.
Citizen’s story about the woman in the blue dress hints at the loneliness he has experienced in his life. The fact that he still thinks about this woman suggests that he longs to have somebody to share his life with. Now that he feels reborn after visiting the City of Bones, though, it’s apparently possible for him to speak openly about the woman in the blue dress, suggesting that something in his outlook has changed—after all, he used to lie awake tormenting himself with thoughts of the woman in the blue dress, but now he casually brings her up in conversation with Black Mary.
Themes
Thinking about the woman in the blue dress usually makes Citizen feel lonely, but he doesn’t feel that way now. He doesn’t have a woman in his life, but he feels “all filled up inside” now. Black Mary says, “You got to be right with yourself before you can be right with anybody else.” Citizen couldn’t agree more, deciding that he’d tell the woman in blue exactly what Black Mary just said if he ever saw her again—he thinks she was searching for someone else to help her become “right with herself.”
The idea of being “right with yourself” is central to the entire play. Part of what it means to be truly free, the play implies, is being at peace with oneself. There’s a sense of self-sufficiency and responsibility to this idea, as if Citizen has finally realized that he has to face his problems on his own before he can engage in meaningful relationships with others. Whereas he used to turn to other people in the hopes that they might help him, he now knows that he has to help himself by owning his mistakes. Being “right” with oneself is so important, the play intimates, that it’s even worth dying for, as evidenced by Garret Brown’s decision to drown in order to preserve his integrity; he knew he was in the right, and so nothing—not even death—could convince him to betray his own honor.
Themes
Aunt Ester comes into the kitchen and asks Citizen to go looking for Selig. He should be traveling upriver right now, but she wants Citizen to bring him back before he gets too far. Citizen will have to be careful, since Caesar will most likely follow him if he sees him. Citizen agrees and takes his leave. Aunt Ester tells Black Mary to give her some food, but she also critiques her young protégé for having the fire too hot. Black Mary argues back, saying that she’s tired of how much Aunt Ester criticizes her—she has her own way of doing things, and if Aunt Ester doesn’t like that, then that’s too bad. Instead of chastising her, Aunt Ester simply says, “What took you so long?”
The scene between Aunt Ester and Black Mary suggests that Aunt Ester has been waiting for her protégé to stand up for herself. Aunt Ester has critiqued Black Mary several times throughout the play, and though it has noticeably irked Black Mary, she has never actually put up a fight. Now, though, she insists that she has her own way of doing things. By saying this, she perhaps shows Aunt Ester that she has gained the confidence necessary to someday take Ester’s place as a spiritual leader in the community—a role that undoubtedly requires a strong sense of self.
Themes
