Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, violence, enslavement, rape, torture, suicide, and abuse.

The dominant theme of the book is slavery and its effect on the people and the society of the United States in the mid-1800s. However, there are several distinct ways in which this theme manifests, and Hannah Crafts’s social critique provides hope for a future in which slavery is no longer an issue.

The primary way in which the theme of slavery appears in the text is the negative effect it has on African Americans. Hannah frequently reiterates the importance of freedom and the yearning to be free. Enslaved people are forced to work without recompense, and they are often separated from their families when they are sold to another enslaver. Enslaved people are at risk of rape and assault from enslavers, and other enslaved people can be beaten and even executed without repercussions, and they lack any means to challenge this system. Crafts shows that slavery is a damaging institution that oppresses and harms African Americans to an extreme extent.

The novel offers a unique perspective on slavery in the mid-1800s, as it is the only known novel written by a formerly enslaved African American woman.