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The Value of Community
Themes and Colors
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 history of slavery in the United States is painfully alive in Gem of The Ocean. After all, characters like Solly and Aunt Ester were enslaved themselves, and the memory of that terrible experience is still fresh in their minds. Solly also worked on the Underground Railroad and vividly remembers what it was like to smuggle escapees to freedom. What’s more, the play’s title itself refers to a boat that forcefully took thousands of Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to be enslaved in America—a boat that Aunt Ester (who says she’s 285 years old) implies she was on. Serving as a spiritual guide of sorts, Aunt Ester helps Citizen Barlow make peace with himself by enabling him to take a metaphorical ride on the Gem of the Ocean to a mystical city called the City of Bones. The city itself is populated by the many Africans who didn’t make it across the ocean on the slave ships.
Although the City of Bones sounds like a harrowing and depressing place, the characters in the play all talk about it as if it’s a beautiful kind of paradise, implying that there’s something significant about acknowledging even the most painful parts of history. When Citizen makes his metaphorical journey to the City of Bones, he comes back feeling happier and more at ease with himself. It’s not exactly clear why spiritually visiting a city of dead enslaved people makes Citizen feel better, except that perhaps engaging with the trauma of slavery is better than trying to ignore it. Citizen himself was never enslaved, but he has dealt with racism for his entire life. The idea of a beautiful city-like afterlife for oppressed people is therefore oddly appealing, perhaps giving him hope that the horrors of racism won’t be able to reach this otherworldly realm of shared suffering. Of course, the exact meaning of Citizen’s trip to the City of Bones remains ambiguous. What’s quite clear, however, is the play’s suggestion that slavery isn’t just a fleeting part of some long-forgotten past—rather, the history and trauma of such horrific oppression reverberates into the present.
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History and Trauma ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of History and Trauma appears in each scene of Gem of the Ocean. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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History and Trauma Quotes in Gem of the Ocean
Below you will find the important quotes in Gem of the Ocean related to the theme of History and Trauma.
Act 1, Scene 5 Quotes
I got memories go way back. I’m carrying them for a lot of folk. All the old-timey folks. I’m carrying their memories and I’m carrying my own. If you don’t want it I got to find somebody else. I’m getting old. Going on three hundred years now. That’s what Miss Tyler told me. Two hundred eighty-five by my count.
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Aunt Ester reveals in a conversation with Black Mary that she’s 285 years old. Because the play is set in 1904, her age indicates that she was born in 1619—the year that the first slave ship set sail for Jamestown, Virginia. In a way, then, Aunt Ester herself is a very symbolic character who represents the centuries-long suffering that Black people have endured at the hands of white enslavers in America. She hints at this when she says that she has memories that “go way back,” adding that she’s “carrying them for a lot of folk.” In other words, she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porr
Act 2, Scene 2 Quotes
If you gonna do it…do it right! They wave the law on one end and hit you with a billy club with the other. I told myself I can’t just sit around and collect dog shit while the people drowning. The people drowning in sorrow and grief. That’s a mighty big ocean. They got the law tied to their toe. Every time they try and swim the law pull them under.
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When Solly talks to Citizen about the abolition of slavery, he points out that the process of freeing Black Americans from enslavement wasn’t handled well. The Union fought and won the Civil War, but there weren’t many measures in place to ensure Black Americans would be able to make use of their newfound freedom. Plus, racism continued to run rampant in the United States long after the end of slavery, and the country didn’t do much to address the extreme bigotry Black Americans faced as they tried to make lives for themselves in such oppressive conditions. When he says, “They Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labor
SOLLY: […] It’s dangerous out here. People walking around hunting each other. If you ain’t careful you could lose your eye or your arm. I seen that. I seen a man grab hold to a fellow and cut off his arm. Cut it off at the shoulder. He had to work at it a while…but he cut it clean off. The man looked down saw his arm gone and started crying. After that he more dangerous with that one arm than the other man is with two. He got less to lose. There’s a lot of one-arm men walking around.
ELI: That’s what Caesar can’t understand. He can’t see the people ain’t got nothing to lose.
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Solly and Eli talk to Citizen about how difficult it is for Black people to live in the oppressive conditions of American society. When Solly tells the story about seeing a man cut of another man’s arm, he illustrates two things. First, the story shows Citizen that difficult economic circumstances push people into ruthless competition, suddenly pitting community members against each other as if they’re “walking around hunting each other.” Second, his story sheds light on how desperation creates a sense of reckless abandon. When people have “less to lose,” they become even more likely to behave dangerously. Therefore, it’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi ne
SOLLY: […] I knew all them guns wasn’t on account of me. I figured they was fighting for themselves. And if that would help them that would help us.
ELI: They never said they was gonna help us. They said the war was gonna help us. After that it be every man for himself.
SOLLY: I told them you get what’s in it for you and I’ll get what’s in it for me. You get yours and I’ll get mine and we’ll settle the difference later. We still settling it.
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Discussing the Civil War, Solly and Eli agree that the Union Army didn’t just fight the Confederacy to free the many enslaved Black people in the South. Although that was one of the matters at stake in the war, there was also the issue of the Confederacy wanting to secede from the Union, meaning that there were political reasons for the Union to fight in the Civil War. Still, Solly accepted that the Union’s specific motivations didn’t necessarily matter in the moment, as long as the end result was the abolition of slavery. At the same time, though, he recognized Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque
Act 2, Scene 4 Quotes
Yeah, I burned it down! The people might get mad but freedom got a high price. You got to pay. No matter what it cost. You got to pay. I didn’t mind settling up the difference after the war. But I didn’t know they was gonna settle like this. I got older I see where I’m gonna die and everything gonna be the same. I say well at least goddamn it they gonna know I was here! The people gonna know about Solly Two Kings!
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When Caesar tries to arrest Solly for burning down the mill, it’s unclear whether or not Solly actually did it. In this scene, though, Solly bursts out of Aunt Ester’s bedroom—where he has been hiding—and admits that he did it (Caesar isn’t there to hear this). He says that he burned the mill as a way of showing people that “freedom got a high price.” What he means is that powerful white people can’t pat themselves on the back for granting Black Americans freedom and then continue to oppress them through other means. The mill was an exploitative institution that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur e
You see, Mr. Caesar, you can put the law on the paper but that don’t make it right. That piece of paper say I was property. Say anybody could buy or sell me. The law say I needed a piece of paper to say I was a free woman. But I didn’t need no piece of paper to tell me that. Do you need a piece of paper, Mr. Caesar?
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Because of Aunt Ester’s association with Solly, Caesar arrives at her house with a warrant for her arrest after Solly burns down the mill. However, Aunt Ester challenges the authority of the law by highlighting how absurd it is to invest so much meaning and importance in a mere piece of paper. To really emphasize this absurdity, she references a different piece of paper: the Bill of Sale from when she was enslaved and sold from one enslaver to another. “That piece of paper say I was property,” she says, underscoring just how ridiculous it is to follow immoral laws Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non invento
These ain’t slavery times no more, Miss Tyler. You living in the past. All that done changed. The law done changed and I’m a custodian of the law. Now you know, Miss Tyler, you got to have rule of law otherwise there’d be chaos. Nobody wants to live in chaos.
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After Aunt Ester argues that the warrant Caesar has for her arrest is meaningless to her, Caesar makes a counterargument. He disregards the point she makes about the Bill of Sale from when she was sold from one enslaver to another, saying that her argument is irrelevant because it’s no longer “slavery times” and that she’s “living in the past.” By saying these things, he proves just how unquestioningly he follows the law; although Aunt Ester has made a very compelling point about how he shouldn’t need the law to tell him what’s right and what’s wrong, he still goes Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor aspe
