American Slavery
The novel centers on the depraved act of commercializing the African ‘bodies’ across the Middle Passage from the African homelands into Charleston, South Carolina. The author focuses on the plight of the enslaved African captives through the narrator, referred to in “we” pronoun, who tells the brutal experiences as a collective. The fictionalized telling of the transatlantic trade offers a much more detailed and vivid account of the cruelty of American slavery. From the slaves being stripped from their African roots and shipped into the New World, the story encompasses the different stages of the slave trade and its inhumane aspects.
African Heritage and Diversity
The novel's most prominent theme aside from the slave trade backdrop is the homage towards African culture, heritage and the diversity of African tribes. Many accounts in the same vein as the novel typically allude to the vast diversity of African captives but do not necessarily go into subtle details of names, tribes, and culture. Black emphasizes these factors in order to educate the masses especially the African American populace of their lost tribal backgrounds that got forgotten. In the narrative, Black references African rituals, teachings, and meaning of names to create a direct connection of the present-day African-Americans and their African ancestors. Through the meaning of the African names, Black shows the depth of their meaning and their link to each individual character-wise. Black includes the rich traditions of the African tribes that got gradually abandoned after the captors brought the assortment of African captives into unfamiliar territory.
Spirituality
The diversity of the African captives initially created a disconnection amidst themselves but through spirituality and hope found unity. Even though the slaves came from different cultures and practices, the devoutness to a higher being or spirituality was similar in all of them. The African captives are depicted as hopeless once they are introduced to the inhumane practices of slavery but through the sense of God find faith and hope of freedom. The story is filled with hopeful reassurances that give the African slaves hope of a better future that entails freedom. Being deprived of any human dignity, the captives discover the beauty in their struggle as they become unified by their shared pain and piety.
