Significance of The Cellar

The cellar where Dessa is held captive in the first section of the novel represents the power of enslavement to control the human spirit. While in the cellar, Dessa is in complete isolation, fed meager meals, and made to defecate on herself. The cellar restricts Dessa's sense of self, her capacity for thought, speech, and even movement. The tight walls of the cellar represent the oppressive walls of slavery as a whole, and its debasing effects on the individual.