Copper sun Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Amari

A fifteen-year-old Ewe girl from Ziavi whose betrothal gift — a copper sun — becomes her emblem of survival. Enslaved, renamed 'Myna,' and repeatedly violated, she keeps her true name private and walks to freedom at Fort Mose.

Appears in:: Part 1: The World Before It Burns; Part 2: The Coffle, the Castle, the Ship; Part 3: Derbyshire Farms; Part 4: The Baby, the Order, the Run
Themes:: Identity that cannot be renamed; Women teaching each other to survive; Prejudice unlearned; The body as battleground

Polly Pritchard

A fifteen-year-old white indentured servant working off her parents' debt, who arrives calling enslaved people 'savages.' Shared suffering in Teenie's kitchen remakes her into Amari's committed friend — and, at the end, her family.

Appears in:: Part 3: Derbyshire Farms; Part 4: The Baby, the Order, the Run
Themes:: Women teaching each other to survive; Prejudice unlearned; The body as battleground

Teenie

The small, wise, elderly cook who runs the Derbyshire kitchen and mothers her son Tidbit. She schools Amari in the big house's survival rules, including 'never let them see you cry.'

Appears in:: Part 3: Derbyshire Farms
Themes:: Women teaching each other to survive

Clay Derby

The sixteen-year-old son who receives Amari as a birthday present and calls her his 'personal property.' His violence — including using Tidbit as alligator bait — makes him the face of slavery's casual cruelty.

Appears in:: Part 3: Derbyshire Farms; Part 4: The Baby, the Order, the Run
Themes:: Prejudice unlearned; The body as battleground

Besa

Amari's betrothed, who gives her the copper sun. Seen once more in Cape Coast Castle's dungeon, broken, he tells her he is 'no longer a man' and not to hope for him.

Appears in:: Part 1: The World Before It Burns; Part 2: The Coffle, the Castle, the Ship
Themes:: Identity that cannot be renamed

Tidbit

Teenie's lively little boy, with his dog Hushpuppy, who becomes a little brother to Amari. Clay uses him as alligator bait; he escapes and flees south with the women.

Appears in:: Part 3: Derbyshire Farms; Part 4: The Baby, the Order, the Run

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Afi

An older captive who mothers Amari on the march and the Middle Passage, teaching her to find strength within. Her parting words — 'If you survive, then I live' — become Amari's charge.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Coffle, the Castle, the Ship
Themes:: Women teaching each other to survive

Mrs. Isabelle Derby

Mr. Derby's kind, lonely young wife, in love with Noah, the slave her own age. Her baby's birth triggers the killing that sends Amari and Polly running.

Appears in:: Part 4: The Baby, the Order, the Run

How they are connected

Key relationships

Polly Pritchard Amari
' Shared suffering in Teenie's kitchen remakes her into Amari's committed friend — and, at the end, her family.
Polly Pritchard Teenie
' Shared suffering in Teenie's kitchen remakes her into Amari's committed friend — and, at the end, her family.
Teenie Tidbit
The small, wise, elderly cook who runs the Derbyshire kitchen and mothers her son Tidbit.
Teenie Amari
She schools Amari in the big house's survival rules, including 'never let them see you cry.
Clay Derby Amari
The sixteen-year-old son who receives Amari as a birthday present and calls her his 'personal property.
Clay Derby Tidbit
' His violence — including using Tidbit as alligator bait — makes him the face of slavery's casual cruelty.
Afi Amari
An older captive who mothers Amari on the march and the Middle Passage, teaching her to find strength within.
Besa Amari
Amari's betrothed, who gives her the copper sun.
Mrs. Isabelle Derby Amari
Her baby's birth triggers the killing that sends Amari and Polly running.
Mrs. Isabelle Derby Polly Pritchard
Her baby's birth triggers the killing that sends Amari and Polly running.
Tidbit Amari
Teenie's lively little boy, with his dog Hushpuppy, who becomes a little brother to Amari.

Go deeper

Copper sun themes & symbols

Identity that cannot be renamed · Women teaching each other to survive · Prejudice unlearned · Freedom as a place you can reach

Themes explained

Read the full Copper sun summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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