Review for Copper Sun

When I began to read the book, I did not understand why the author entitled it Copper Sun. However, upon further reflection about the meaning of the words Copper Sun, I began to understand. One fellow student said that is because sun does not always look the same color. Copper sun implies that the sun is viewed during a certain time of day such as sunrise or sunset. I agreed with this idea. Symbolically, sunset represents the hardest or lowest time in life. Amari experienced the hardest moment when she was captured by American slave traders and treated not as a human but as property or an animal. As far as sunrise is concerned, sunrise is a good moment as there is light in the sky. When Amari and Polly reached the St. Augustine, they experience a time which for them was equivalent to sunrise. Amari and Polly could see some hope in the new land.
On the other hand, sunset could be viewed in an opposite way. Sunset brings the promise of rest at the end of the day. Draper brings this idea into the book towards its conclusion. She writes, “Amari glanced toward the west and watched the sun set. It glowed a bright metallic copper- the same sun that set each evening upon her homeland. She knew that she had found a home once more” (pp 302). In this context, sunset is a very positive idea. For Amari, sunset corresponds to her freedom when she gets a new life and is able to relax. Similarly, Draper may portray sunrise as a beginning of Amari’s hardships. Amari was captured in the morning. Her journey of servitude began with the rising of the sun. In this sense, sunrise is not a hopeful symbol. It only signifies a beginning.
When I began to read, I did not know very much about the slave trade. Through the first part of the book, I felt so sorry for Africans being betrayed by people whom they welcomed. It was a horrible. When Besa said that there are some people whom they have not seen coming, I hoped Besa would not welcome them and that he would fight against them. However, the Africans welcome the new people, and they were betrayed and sold as slaves.
The process of being shipped in the boat was terrible. It is unthinkable that humans mistreat their fellow beings in that way. Draper described well how they treated slaves—not as humans but as animals (pp 17). After they were shipped in a boat, Amari could meet Afi who had already been sold twice. I really could not understand when Afi told Amari that she had a hope to live and should live for the future. I could see foreshadowing that Amari would someday be truly free.
This book contains some religious points, but I could not match it with the bible. This story bears much similarity to the biblical story of Moses and the Egyptian Captivity. There is one large discrepancy. Fort Mose was not the perfect place like Canaan. Furthermore, there is not a leader akin to Moses nor is there an Israelite people which he leads. The slavery which Amari and Polly experienced is the same as that which the Israeli people felt at the hand of Pharaoh. As the book said, Polly continues to pray to the God not to be captured. The fact that they prayed to God is the same as Moses praying to God while escaping from Egypt.
At the end of the book, Draper says that the content of the book is almost true. She said that she used a lot of materials regarding to the slavery. It seems to me that the first half of the book which described slavery as harsh is real but the other half detailing Amari’s escape is unrealistic. Draper probably wrote it to please her target audience of adolescents so they will not be disappointed. She made the ending unrealistically happy. I do not complain. I enjoyed walking away from the book with a smile on my face regardless of the doubts in my head.