Cuffen Ned as the Christ character
"Christ characters" are an interesting literary phenomenon where important figures seem to demonstrate some implicit similarities to Jesus Christ, which is certainly true of Cuffee Ned. Their commitment to the cause of justice is inspired by the legacy of the slave rebel, Cuffee Ned, who started the revolt in an act of inspiration and martyrdom. Therefore, he represents the hope of a better life to the people of Bournehills, but not without great personal sacrifice.
Dr. Amron as the Saul character
Dr. Amron is named "Saul," after his archetypal inspiration. Much like the biblical Saul from the New Testament, Dr. Amron undergoes a conversion, a conversion that shatters his previous assumptions about life, showing that even though he has given his entire life to helping, he hasn't even started really "helping" at all. In order to make sense of his call, he has to understand the native's adoration of Cuffen Ned, and the way that their history justifies their point of view. This is very similar to the way Saul, later Paul, is converted from persecuting Christians to advocating for them. Much like the biblical Saul, Dr. Amron realizes that he has actually been making things worse, not better.
The Bournehills as a symbol for forgotten people
In the novel, there is a city with globalized interests, and then a native land where people are suffering greatly. This makes Bournehill a symbolic representation of the exploited, slave class of human history. There are serious Marxist implications of the Bournehill's resent for powerful nations.
An allegorical interpretation of the plot
Many of the symbols in this novel are supposed to be interpreted universally, so this plot structure has archetypal implications. Instead of just referring to an unfortunate circumstance, the novel has a way of asking the reader, "Isn't it unusual that every person that has come to this island has come to exploit it in some way?"
Like Dr. Amron himself, the reader should conclude from this that the novel is an attempt to illustrate something important about human morality. Humans seem naturally oriented toward exploitation, and the tragedies and horrors of colonialism were indeed so universal that this interpretation is un-ignorable.
The motif of mistreatment
When the Americans meet the Bournehills advocate, they realize that most people seem not to like the advocate, and most people wish he would go away. This is an instance of disenfranchisement, where a minority, oppressed people group are regarded as annoying and bothersome.
Also, the novel addresses foreign mistreatment of the island as the product of big business interests and exploitation. Then the novel also addresses the explicit mistreatment of the natives by British colonies, so it seems that mistreatment and exploitation serve a major role in the shape of the novel and also throughout the novel as a motif.
