Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Never Caught, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Slavery and Paternalism
Narrative and Historical Erasure
The Creation of America
Freedom and Agency
Summary
Analysis
Dunbar describes how difficult things are, even in New York, for fugitive slaves who have run away from their masters and mistresses in an attempt to secure freedom for themselves. Organizations like the New York Manumission Society—a group which seeks to persuade New Yorkers to release their slaves—try to put their bodies between slave catchers and the fugitives they seek, to offer legal aid to escaped Black people, and to open schools for Black children. White reformers and Black activists alike seek an end to slavery—and justice for free Black people—but it will be decades before New York truly ends slavery.
Dunbar describes the changing social, political, and cultural environment in New York in order to set the stage for the collision of ideas and morals that will take place as the Washingtons arrive in the nation’s temporary capital. Things are changing fairly rapidly—and the Washingtons are at odds with the new environment into which they are moving.
Themes
On May 27th of 1789, three days after leaving Philadelphia, Martha Washington and her coterie arrive in New Jersey. Washington meets his wife and grandchildren—Eleanor Parke “Nelly” Custis and George Washington Parke “Wash” Custis—and travels with them across the river to Manhattan. As the Washingtons begin adjusting to the demanding social scene in New York, Ona becomes one of the most well-known, even “high-profile” bondwomen in the nation. Dunbar suggests that though the transition to Northern life must have been difficult and frightening at times, Ona swiftly adapted to her new life and became Martha’s “go-to girl.”
Dunbar has already set the stage for the fact that the Washingtons are, in a way, arriving in an entirely different world as they begin their lives in New York. Though the Washingtons can take their time adjusting, Ona must swiftly and seamlessly do all that is required of her without any hesitation or difficulty.
Themes
A large part of Ona’s job in New York is taking responsibility for Martha Washington’s appearance—deciding what garments the first lady will wear, cleaning her shoes and fine dresses, and helping Martha to create a more cosmopolitan image through her wardrobe. In the Washingtons’ expansive Cherry Street residence, there is more work than the seven slaves the Washington have brought along can handle, so Tobias Lear begins to bring in additional white servants. This, Dunbar writes, is likely the first time that Ona has ever lived in such close quarters with free white servants. As Ona witnesses the benefits of freedom, she also likely bears witness to its demands: the threat of poverty, lack of opportunity, and constant fear of the future. Still, these white servants are free while Ona is not.
Ona experiences greater proximity to freedom than she ever has through exposure both to the free Black community in New York and the white indentured servants who work alongside her. But she also begins to see the complexities that define freedom for Black people—especially Black women—of her era. Ona understands that there are additional responsibilities and potential pitfalls that accompany freedom—and she’ll need to weigh these fears in the months and years to come.
Themes
As Martha continues struggling to adjust to the new demands of life in New York, Ona struggles, too, to accept her increasingly visible, formal, and public role as the first lady’s most trusted slave. Martha’s fast-paced social calendar—and George and Martha’s open audiences at the Cherry Street house once a week—mean that Ona begins interacting with increasingly prominent people including foreign ministers, senators, and congressmen. These occasions also keep the Washingtons occupied and busy—allowing Ona precious private time in which she can enjoy stolen moments for herself.
Even as Ona’s responsibilities multiply, she finds herself experiencing new things—and indeed enjoying moments in which she can sharpen her sense of self and reckon with the fast-paced changes that are defining her life in New York.
Themes
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New York, Dunbar notes, is not yet quite as progressive as Philadelphia. In spite of abolitionist rhetoric on the rise, no one bats an eye at Washington bringing along a group of slaves to serve him at Cherry Street. Dunbar suggests that Ona and the six other enslaved men and women who traveled with her to Philadelphia—and then on to New York—must have felt a kind of whiplash as they went from a brief stay in a more open-minded city to an extended stay in one that was still far behind in terms of attitudes toward the end of slavery. Dunbar writes that when Ona compared her observations of Northern slavery to the practices of Southern slaveholders like George and Martha Washington, who owned hundreds of enslaved people, she likely would have been surprised by the stark differences.
Though Dunbar discusses the rise of anti-slavery rhetoric and action in the North, she is also careful to point out that there are not yet massive structural challenges or obstacles standing in the way of slaveholders doing as they please. The tide of public opinion has not yet turned radically enough to cause George or Martha to feel a sense of shame about owning human “property.”
Themes
A month after Martha Washington arrives in New York, George Washington becomes ill with fever. Surgeons are forced to remove a large tumor from his left leg. The Washingtons try to keep the president’s condition private—but the apprehensive, agitated mood at Cherry Street deepens as the president begins his long road to recovery, adding stress and pressure to Ona’s already-massive workload.
This passage again demonstrates how the personal problems of white slaveholders often affected their slaves just as acutely—and sometimes even more profoundly or in radically different ways.
Themes
Once Washington is recovered, the family moves to a larger home on Broadway. Martha is frequently left alone as George resumes travel from state to state. Soon, the president becomes ill again as influenza season descends upon the city. In late April of 1790, needing a respite from the city, the Washingtons prepare to return home to Mount Vernon for an extended visit and a rest from Northern life. Ona will return to Virginia a changed woman. Though she is only 16, she has seen things her family members and fellow slaves back at Mount Vernon have never imagined.
The Washingtons’ return to Mount Vernon is, for George and Martha, a respite from the strenuous demands of public life and a chance to rest after the illnesses that have plagued their home. For Ona, however, the trip holds a very different meaning: having been changed by the things she’s seen and done, returning home is less of a chance to rest and more of a confrontation with the two very different worlds of which she’s now a part.
Themes
