The Indigo Girl

As The Indigo Girl is set within the historical juncture of the colonial period and the transatlantic trade of enslaved people, Boyd tackles the concept of freedom as a forbidden reality for most of her characters. She specifically parallels Eliza’s societal and gendered confinement with Ben’s for-profit, perpetual enslavement to highlight the different ways in which freedom is restricted and maintained in colonial America. Both characters believe that freedom can, in some fashion, be bought. For Ben, his hopes lie in Cromwell’s false promises of manumission; as Cromwell explains to Eliza, “Patrick [Cromwell’s brother] used to pay [Ben] a meagre amount, but now with this current appointment, he is working off his remaining indenture. When he is finished here with us, however long that takes […] I have agreed to consider his manumission” (130). The vague wording of Cromwell’s declaration foreshadows his true intentions never to release Ben from his indenture. The author never specifies the price that Ben must pay, and the italicized word “consider” indicates that Cromwell is not beholden to any legally binding promises to release Ben. Thus, Ben’s freedom is at the mercy of Cromwell’s whim and will therefore remain nonexistent. In fact, the very skill that would allow him to pay the undisclosed price of his freedom is the reason why Cromwell will never let him go, as Eliza surmises when she confronts Ben about her ruined indigo: “How many times has he made that promise? […] He will never free you! […] He needs you.