The corruption of power (slave owners) is the main theme in this book. Throughout this narrative, the reader sees that the slave has no power and the slaveholder has no humanity. Page after page of the narrative illustrates the slave losing his or her family members. They are sold. The same white slaveholder who sits in church every Sunday and prays over meals and supposedly cares for the family has no compunction when it comes to selling children to another plantation. If the slave makes a mistake or displeases the owner, the owner beats the slave viciously.