Island Beneath the Sea

Throughout the novel, dancing recurs as a motif. Early on, Tété recalls hearing Honoré teach her that dancing is a form of freedom. From that time onward, she takes pleasure in dancing to the rhythms of the drums typically associated with Voodoo, though in New Orleans she attends dances hosted by Catholics as well. In comparison with the free and expressive dancing Tété enjoys, European dance forms such as the waltz are also mentioned, as when Maurice and Rosette take dance lessons, foreshadowing their later reunion at the Cordon Bleu ball. Rather than signifying freedom, these more rigid, structured dance forms align with shallow social presentations and etiquette, mirroring broader social differences between European and African cultures.

Dance plays a key role during the incident in Cuba, when Tété loses sight of Maurice as she dances exuberantly. Her moment of elation is short lived, as she is soon arrested for her supposed negligence. Thus, while dancing may be freedom, those who lack the freedom to dance whenever and wherever they wish are not truly free.

From the beginning, Tété longs for her freedom. She runs away from Madame Delphine and Violette on separate occasions, but finds such a course impractical. Accordingly, Tété later sets her mind on a different outcome: legal emancipation. Seeing an opportunity, she convinces Valmorain to draft a document granting her freedom in exchange for safe passage to Le Cap the night before Maroons are set to attack Saint-Lazare. From that moment on, the document becomes an important symbol in the novel. Tété cherishes it as a physical embodiment of her claim to freedom. However, it is years before anything comes of it, as Valmorain continues to add excuses and conditions to her emancipation. As Tété learns when she tries to use the document to escape punishment in Cuba, without ratification by a judge, it is merely a scrap of paper.

Finally, in New Orleans, with Père Antoine’s help, Tété uses the paper to force Valmorain to honor his word and set her free. At this point, the document comes to represent the weight of law and honor. In turn, Tété’s reliance on others to give the document force demonstrates just how hostile the social and legal institutions were to people of her social status at that time. Overall, the emancipation document serves as a physical reminder of the unjust institutions and systems that Tété must navigate to secure her freedom.