Slavery
Obvious, but none the less the primary theme, slavery is the central tenet of the book. The author tells the reader some of the more fundamental elements of slavery, not least the fact that slaves were not actually considered to be people in their own right, but the property of their masters, and so had no civil rights, or human rights, whatsoever. Although many were subsequently emancipated by their masters, who had viewed them as employed labor rather than possessions, the masters in the community in which Celia found herself were not prepared to do so.
Owning a slave also seems to have been a "get out of jail free" card for men who wanted to rape women but were afraid that they would get caught, or killed by a woman whose right was to defend herself. There were two sides to the slavery argument and it is apparent that it was not an issue with any middle ground at all. The author lays out the social scenery at the time and also the politics behind the status of slavery within the Union.
Pro-Slavery versus Abolitionist
A smaller theme within the book is the continual and often violent conflict between those who were pro-slavery and those who were against it. The backdrop for this book, and for the events of Celia's life, is untenable, in that civilized debate on the subject seems to have largely fizzled out, to be replaced by violence and rioting. There was also considerable manipulation of the political and geopolitical landscape as both sides tried to flood states with their own voters so that any vote about a state's slave status could be driven by their own numbers.
Sexual Exploitation
One of the saddest parts of Celia's story is not that her master, or his family, considered his rape of her to be sex, or something that she herself had invited, but that her own boyfriend, another slave, also believed this to be true. This theme shows that the practice of blaming a woman for her own rape is centuries old. George threatens Celia that he will never speak to her again if she does not break off her relationship, implying that he believes her to be a willing participant in it.
Slavery was engineered to enable men to rape women in that although there was a law in Missouri that gave women the right to defend themselves against rape (defend their honor) by whatever means necessary, this right did not extend to slaves. This therefore gave carte blanche to men like Newsom to exploit their teenage slave girls, because they knew there would be no punishment for doing so. Newsom goes so far as to purchase Celia just so that he can have sex with her.
