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Daughters of the Dust
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Part 5, Chapters 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 5: “Dawtuh Island: October 1926”
Part 5, Chapter 11 Summary: “The Sorcerer as Told by Miz Emma Julia”
During the antebellum period, the Union army freed some enslaved people in the South and issued orders to halt the trading of enslaved people immediately. Many Southern enslavers continued their practice in secret to avoid fines and punishment. Among them was Montgomery Baxter, who commissioned a large, fast boat nicknamed the Sorcerer and continued to transport enslaved people for many years. A Union army captain named James Worthington learned about the existence of the Sorcerer and was eventually able to intercept Baxter in a small cove off Dawtuh Island; Baxter was on his way back from Africa. When Baxter realized he’d been cornered, he began throwing enslaved people overboard, and the heavy shackles caused men, women, and children to sink rapidly and drown. In the ensuing chaos, Baxter escaped to Florida on the Sorcerer. Days later, bodies began washing up on the island. The local plantation boss ordered other enslaved people to bury them, but they refused to obey him. He was forced to recruit poor white people to do the work. They performed their duties carelessly, burying the enslaved people in a shallow mass grave on the site that is now the Wilkerson land. Baxter eventually returned to the islands, and when the Union won the war, Captain Worthington returned and re-captured him. Baxter was sent to a jail in the North and Captain Worthington destroyed the Sorcerer in view of the watching Confederates.
Miz Emma Julia interprets the discovery of the bodies as a sign from the ancestors that those on the islands have strayed from their origins. She arranges a traditional West African burial to put the souls of the captives to rest. Under the guidance of Miz Emma Julia, Amelia helps to arrange an altar for the ceremony. She derives comfort from the charm she is wearing, created by Elizabeth. The Gullah-Geechee community gathers, and Miz Emma Julia leads them in a prayer. She encourages Lucy to hold the bones, stating that the one who roused the spirits must be the one to put them to rest. Sensing Lucy’s terror, Amelia joins her, picking up a skull. She feels great waves of spiritual force move through her, and the earth begins to pitch and roll as a strong wind rises. Miz Emma Julia reminds the spectators of the strength it took for their ancestors “to keep dey all about dem, to hold on de ol ways, to keep de lies true” (241). She encourages the crowd to feel the pain of their ancestors so that they can begin to heal. Finally, she calls on Ogun, Yemoja, Oya, Elegba, and Oshun to fortify them and guide them forward. When the wind and shaking have stopped, the people on the island dig a proper grave site and bury the bones together, unshackled, in a wooden coffin. Afterward, each attendee leaves an offering on the coffin and proceeds to a celebratory feast.
Almost six months have passed since Amelia arrived on Dawtuh Island, and she and Elizabeth have grown close. Lucy’s fiancé, Charlie, arrives, and he takes Lucy back to the mainland to be married; they promise to return to farm the Wilkerson land once Lucy has processed her sorrow. Days after Lucy’s departure to the mainland, Amelia and Elizabeth learn that Sallie Lee has been having an affair with Sugarnun, often leaving her children alone for hours at a time. The following morning, Amelia, Ben, and Rebecca are shocked to find that the Wilkerson land is now covered with bright flower blooms. Amelia exclaims, “The ancients, they’re sending a sign” (255). On the day of the School Board inspection, a man named Mr. Hammond is sent to survey Elizabeth’s classroom. Snippets of his internal monologue reveal that he expects nothing of value from the students and views the people on the islands contemptuously. Elizabeth has put together a recital, with each of her students reading or singing a piece they have chosen. The first few students recite biblical texts, pleasantly surprising Hammond. When a boy named Hanley begins to recite Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, however, Hammond is horrified and ends the recital early. He berates Elizabeth for deviating from the prescribed curriculum and teaching the children the words of a “traitor.” Hammond reminds her that the children on the island should only be taught the basics of math and English that are required to work the land.
In the days after the inspection, Elizabeth is quiet and withdrawn. Eli watches his daughter from afar. He wants to comfort her, but since her return from the mainland she has become a new version of herself, one he can’t always reach. Watching Elizabeth, Eli wonders if sending her to the mainland was a mistake. He begins to catalog his life’s greatest regrets, beginning with the night many years ago when he stayed out too late dancing. Eula ventured out alone to look for him. In the woods, she was set upon, beaten, and raped. Eli struggled with guilt and anger in the aftermath, especially after Eula became pregnant with Elizabeth. Eula refused to reveal the identity of her attacker, and Eli worried that the unborn child was not his. He grew distant from his wife until Elizabeth’s birth allayed his fears.
Consumed by these thoughts, Eli goes for a walk in the woods. He stumbles across Sallie Lee on her way to visit Sugarnun. Willis George appears shortly afterward, brandishing a shotgun. Devastated by Sallie Lee’s infidelity, Willis George threatens to shoot Sugarnun. Eli manages to convince him to put the gun down, but just as the situation is settling, Sallie Lee picks up the gun and kills Sugarnun herself. In the ensuing chaos, Sallie Lee is sent to a psychiatric hospital on the mainland, while Willis George remains on the island to raise his children. On the day of Amelia’s return to New York, Elizabeth brings her to the train station. As they wait, Elizabeth asks Amelia to tell her own story.
Part 5, Chapter 12 Summary: “My Story as Told by Amelia Varnes”
At first, Amelia thought she had come to the island to observe the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people, but she now realizes that isn’t true. The real reason she came is to find out why some Peazants left the island while others stayed behind. After six months on the island, she’s still unsure. She’s witnessed the severity of life on the island, but also the community and love that flourishes among the Gullah-Geechee. Amelia has spent her life trying to assimilate into white culture in order to get ahead, but now she wonders whether that is the right way to live. Witnessing the way that her relatives on the island live and love freely, she wants that same freedom and love for herself and her mother.
Amelia and Elizabeth embrace, and Amelia boards the train and departs for New York. Elizabeth goes to Beaufort to meet with the School Board. She is intercepted by a Black teacher named Dr. Buckley, who urges her to be patient and learn how to work with the system. In the meeting room, Dr. Buckley defends Elizabeth to the School Board and convinces them not to fire her on the condition that she work under him at the mainland Black high school for several weeks. Elizabeth later reads a letter from Natalie, who proposes that the two of them start up their own boutique in Paris. Elizabeth feels like Natalie is mocking her by suggesting “such an impossible thing” (275) and throws the letter aside in anger.
Miss Evangeline tells Elizabeth the full story of her marriage to Ol’ Trent. As a young woman, she met him in Paris, where he worked as a popular opera singer while passing as white. Miss Evangeline and Ol’ Trent quickly fell in love and were married. They settled into a life in Paris, living happily together until the day two Black men showed up on their doorstep claiming to know Ol’ Trent. Ol’ Trent admitted that he hailed from the Dawtuh Island Wilkersons. Heartbroken, Miss Evangeline fled back to America. Ol’ Trent followed her. He took on a job driving for Burton Devries, who perceived Ol’ Trent as white. One day, Burton caught Miss Evangeline and Ol’ Trent together. He shot at Ol’ Trent, striking him in the head. When Ol’ Trent’s sister arrived to care for him, Burton realized that Ol’ Trent was a Black man. Ol’ Trent survived the shot but sustained a brain injury that gave him with a disability, only able to remember small snippets of his life. Knowing that Burton would torture Ol’ Trent if he remained on the mainland, Miss Evangeline asked his sister to take him back to Dawtuh Island.
Elizabeth is put to work at the mainland school but feels listless and isolated, often dreaming of life in Paris. One day, Ol’ Trent approaches her as she works the land outside Nana Peazant’s home and reveals that he is the one who sowed the Wilkerson field with flowers in an attempt to comfort Lucy. After two weeks at the mainland school, Elizabeth returns to work on Dawtuh Island and lets the students explore the island to learn about their history. On one of their outings, they pass by the Wilkerson land and find Ol’ Trent’s body slumped against a tree trunk.
In Harlem, Amelia reunites with Myown at St. Mary’s hospital. Since returning from the island, she feels more confident and refuses to let Haagar bully her into working at the funeral home, instead spending her days editing her thesis in Myown’s hospital room. Eventually, Myown is sent home. When Amelia goes to a photo shop to edit the film from Dawtuh Island, she realizes that she doesn’t want to present these intimate images to people who will view them like oddities to be studied, “leav[ing] out the spirit and overlook[ing] the common heritage and stories” (283), which bind the community. She worries that her work will cause other researchers to flock to the island, changing it irrevocably in the process. Amelia successfully defends her thesis at Brooklyn College despite the skepticism of the Board of Professors, who question her harshly and suggest that the Gullah-Geechee culture is nothing but a “crude imitation of the old plantation culture” (288). She feels the strength of her ancestors behind her as she calmly answers their questions. Later, Professor Colby informs her that the American Anthropological Society wants her to present at their annual conference. Amelia tells him that she can’t present; she is too frightened of what will happen to her loved ones if their everyday lives become a spectacle for anthropologists. Colby argues that Amelia can’t protect the island from the outside world forever; even now, her anonymous benefactor is planning work that will change the landscape of the island drastically. When Amelia refuses to back down, Colby acquiesces.
One day, Amelia overhears Haagar and her father talking in the kitchen about Myown’s poor prognosis. Amelia interrupts them to announce that she is taking Myown back to the island to live out her remaining time. Haagar despairs at losing her last child, but upon realizing that Amelia can’t be deterred, Haagar gives her a small amount of money to support her transition. Miss Evangeline and Miss Genevieve visit Dawtuh Island to attend Ol’ Trent’s funeral. At the end of their stay, they ask Elizabeth to accompany them on an upcoming trip to Paris. Elizabeth agrees. Two weeks after the Dawtuh Island school closes for the summer, Elizabeth meets Amelia and Myown at the train station. She has finished repairing Nana’s house and plans to move them in. Myown reunites joyfully with her relatives, but there is a sense of tension in the Peazant family, for the news that Elizabeth is going to Paris has upset Eli. Frustrated, Elizabeth asks her mother why Eli holds her so much tighter than his other children. Eula tells her that there was a time when Eli wasn’t sure if he was her father. She asks if Elizabeth remembers Nana’s old story about “The Unborn Chile” (304).
Part 5, Chapter 13 Summary: “De Unborn Chile as Told by Eula Peazant”
When enslaved Africans were first brought to the islands, they were protected by the old spirits. As time passed and people forgot the old ways, the spirits grew angry. They wanted to punish the people on the islands, but Yemoja stopped them, insisting that the time would come when their people would voluntarily return. Eula narrates an account of her life in the third person, describing herself as a playful and happy child. As she grew up, she fell in love with Eli, and they married young. One night, she grew impatient waiting for Eli to pick her up from Nana’s house, so she set off into the woods alone. The woods were home to a “devil” who preyed on spirits to make himself stronger. The devil set upon her, seeking to consume her soul. Eula sent her soul out of her body to hide in safety while he raped and beat her. When the devil left her, Eula was near death, and her soul hovered just outside of her body.
When Eli came across Eula’s brutalized body, he rushed to Nana’s house. Nana called upon the old spirits and begged them to spare Eula, telling them that she was destined to bring a special child into the world. The spirits refused to listen to the elders because of the disobedience of the youth, so Eli beseeched them instead. The spirits agreed to help him but warned that their assistance would come at a price. Eli would have to carry the burden of guilt and doubt for the rest of his life. The spirits hunted down Eula’s rapist and killed him, carrying his remains away on the wind and water. Returning to Eula’s body, they coaxed her soul back into her. They promised that Eula’s unborn child would bring back the old ways to the island, and cautioned Eli not to restrain her, reassuring him that she would always find her way back to her family.
In the narrative present, Eli returns home. He sits down with Elizabeth and admits his fear that if she leaves the island, she will forget her family. Elizabeth declares that she has the right to experience the wider world for herself. On the eve of Elizabeth’s departure, the whole family gathers at Nana Peazant’s. Seeing the house full of light and laughter, Elizabeth is reminded of the old days. When the children begin to play in the sea, Elizabeth takes a break from packing to join them. She wades into the water, her arms outstretched as if she is ready to fly away.
Part 5, Chapters 11-13 Analysis
In these final chapters, Amelia finally puts together the full picture of her heritage and actively acknowledges the trauma of slavery as part of her legacy when she volunteers to hold the bones during the burial ritual. Miz Emma Julia tells her that “only when you feel de pain do de healin begin” (241), and her wisdom highlights the importance of Building Identity Through History and Storytelling. For the characters of Daughters of the Dust, true healing is achieved by remembering and honoring both the suffering and the strength of their ancestors. Accordingly, Amelia feels the full force of the ancient spirits firsthand during the burial ritual; just as they do in the old folktales, the spirits manifest themselves through strong winds and forces that move the Earth. In this revelatory moment, Amelia’s participation in the ceremony becomes a crucial turning point for her character as she fully embraces all aspects of her Gullah-Geechee heritage. Her later exclamation that the ancestors must have caused the flowering of the Wilkerson field shows that she has accepted the very beliefs she once perceived as “ignorant” and “backward.”
Through her time on Dawtuh Island, Amelia has come into her own and fully embraced The Importance of Family and Community. She has regained her lost sense of identity, symbolized by her possession of a Peazant family charm. Amelia now knows who she is within the context of her long-lost community, and she knows that the future she wants for herself is not in Harlem but on Dawtuh Island. Amelia rejects the view that economic progress should be prioritized over the preservation of culture and community, thus bringing an end to her own struggle with the theme of Cultural Preservation Versus Assimilation. In a further understanding of the importance of preserving her family’s culture, Amelia realizes that publishing her work will bring curious attention to Dawtuh Island, inviting visitors who will inevitably bring about “the worst kind of change” (294). When she decides not to publish, Professor Colby argues that her choice is futile because she cannot protect Dawtuh Island from change forever. He alludes to the fact that Amelia’s anonymous benefactor is “planning […] what he’s going to build out there in the next few years” (294). This suggests that the anonymous benefactor funded Amelia’s project not out of anthropological curiosity, but a desire to prospect the land for commercial purposes. Amelia acknowledges change as an inevitable force and agrees that she cannot protect Dawtuh Island forever, but she refuses to be a direct agent of negative change in the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people.
The motif of sexual violence against Black women culminates in Eula’s story, detailing how she was raped by an unnamed attacker identified only as the devil. Eula’s account of being assaulted demonstrates how the retelling of one’s history can be both a painful and healing act, as her descriptions deliberately blend harsh truth with the mythology of her people. The memories of the attack are traumatic, but Eula’s narrative also celebrates her own resilience, the love of her family, and the protection of her ancestors, all of which helped her to recover and survive. The role of Yemoja and the others in Eula’s story once again underscores the influence of faith in the old spirits. Whether or not their presence in the tale is literal, Eula credits the spirits with helping to save her life.
In a contrast to Amelia’s transformative experiences on Dawtuh Island, Elizabeth continues to struggle with restlessness, as she is harshly punished for teaching her students too well and stepping outside the narrow lines drawn for them by white society. These oppressive limitations are what have historically pushed many Peazants away from the island, and despite her devotion to her community, Elizabeth begins to feel the call to leave as well. Thus, at the end of the novel, Elizabeth faces the same choice as other Peazants have before her: whether to stay close to her homeland or to seek a more expansive future elsewhere. Ultimately, Dash puts a positive spin on Elizabeth’s need to branch out, for the story of “The Unborn Chile” frames Elizabeth as a special person in whom the old ways and the new ways are united in harmony. Throughout the narrative, Elizabeth has honored her Gullah-Geechee heritage while recognizing the uphill battle that she faces as a Black woman in the Deep South. Though she was initially afraid to hope for change, she now feels empowered to look beyond Dawtuh Island and explore the rest of the world. Elizabeth plans to leave for Paris but has no intentions of losing her connection to her family or her culture. As the spirits in “The Unborn Chile” prophesize, she will “always come back” (306) to her home on Dawtuh Island.
As Elizabeth prepares for her departure to Paris, Amelia completes a migration of her own, returning to Dawtuh Island with Myown. She has chosen life with her family over a more prosperous, but lonelier life in Harlem. She tells Professor Colby, “My mother and I, we’re going home,” (284) recognizing her true home as the place where she has found a loving and supportive community.
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