Killed while free
A few days after they were freed, the group of former black slaves meets with a group of Patrollers who kill all the black people they can find. This is sees as being ironic because the slaves escaped their master’s cruelty only to be killed as free men by those who used to make a living of capturing runaway slaves and returning them to their masters.
Plantation
After travelling for a while, Jane and Ned are discovered by a kind poor white man named Job who helps them and provides them with a place to stay and food. He then takes them to a plantation owner who hires Jane to work for him. The situation is seen as being ironical because after she was freed, Jane did everything she could to make sure that she doesn’t end up working for someone else. When she was forced to face the reality, she soon realized however that she needs money and in order to make money she need to work for someone. Because of this, Jane accepts to work on the plantation even though she plans to stay there a limited amount of time.
Helped by those who were supposed to hate them
During their journey, Ned and Jane are helped by various people with whom they meet on the road. Among those who help them, many are white and male. This is somehow ironic considering the way the slaves were treated by their white masters and the white population in general. What is more, Jane in particular has a negative opinion about white people based on her negative experiences. Despite this, she can’t deny that if it weren’t for the white people helping her and Ned, they would have probably ended up badly.
Cheap labor
The plantations in Louisiana slowly return to the way they were before slavery was abolished after the Yankees leave. When the black community sees this, they soon start to leave and search for a better life. At first, the whites are happy to see the black people leave but they soon realize that they need them as laborers. Ironically, the men who hated the black the most realized that without them they face many problems and that they suddenly had no one to work their fields.
North vs South
What the North wanted to achieve during the civil war was the abolishment of slavery that was common in the South. After they won the war, they managed to impose their ideas in the South for a while, when the soldiers returned home, the South also returned to its old ways. What is seen as being ironical is the fact that even though the government promised to help the south, they suddenly abandoned it. What is more, the business from the north and the banks helped the southern land owners to buy their land backs by lending them money which eventually resulted in the reparations of slavery and cruelty aimed towards the black community.
