Copper Sun

My feelings for Copper Sun were quite mixed. I'm not sure that it is what I consider to be an accurate depiction of the scenario; I must question its authenticity. My reason is similar to problems I've had with many other multi-cultural books. The relationship between the cultures seems unfair in that the white man is always cruel-hearted and the victims are perfect. Now, I understand this sounds quite harsh, especially as I am a white American. But don't get me wrong-- slave supporting white Americans deserve all the blame and disgust that was targeted toward them in Copper Sun. And the Africans were completely victimized and treated unfairly to the most extreme extent.

The reason, then, that I'm somewhat turned off is by the almost-cheesy and unrealistic depiction of Africans that I saw in Copper Sun and often times see in other works of literature depicting any kind of racial cruelty, whether it be the African slave trade or the mistreatment of Native Americans. Let me explain myself with a paraphrasing of a line that threw me somewhat out of the story and made me laugh. When Amari first tells her mother of the white men that had been spotted, her mother speaks something along the lines of, "Now, we would never judge anyone by the color of their skin."

This is not to say that Amari's mother WOULD judge someone by the color of their skin. But that line was so cheesy and so targeted. It was like a moral lesson force fed to the adolescent audience saying, "Racism is wrong." Which, I think the book tells that story on its own. I just didn't think that the line was well-written in its lack of subtly, and I think it unrealistically depicts not just Africans, but absolutely any human being.

To remedy this, I'm not saying Draper had to include the faults of the Africans, but they could have been better portrayed. Adding to this lack of realism, I don't feel like I learned anything about African culture at all. With the exception of Amari's spirituality and the knowledge that she lived in a tribe, the Africans' personalities and thought processes didn't seem too far off from characters that we as readers are already accustomed to. For this book to have been truly multi-cultural, the audience should have finished the book having learned more about the African lifestyle. Instead, I felt as though I had just read about a girl who had already assimilated into an American life, albeit a slave life. She didn't know a thing about our country and our people--shouldn't she have been a little more confused about the most minute details?

That being said, I did enjoy the book for its entertainment value. It was a quick and easy read; I had no problem keeping the book in my hand for most of a day. However, I don't believe, for the reasons stated above, that it is the best book for a school setting when cultural studies is the goal on the curriculum.