Race

Perhaps the central concern of The East Indian is the question of race: its mutability, its functionality, and its divisiveness in larger society. Tony finds himself struggling to achieve respect from his white peers and superiors, who frequently dismiss him as untrustworthy or illiterate and associate him with the Native Americans whose presence they so fear. Fascinatingly, though, Tony is also spurned by the people of color he encounters in the colony of Virginia, particularly his Black coevals, who are distrustful of his relationships with his white companions. The shifting quality of Tony's standing amongst other ethnic groups functions in support of Charry's thesis that race is both arbitrary and unavoidable.

The treatment that Tony receives from the white people he encounters in Virginia (and elsewhere in English society) is perhaps predictable: he is looked on with scorn and distrust. At several points throughout the novel...