The purpose of this artwork is to express the desperate struggle of the black slaves and their fellow escapee, a white servant, as they run away from their painful pasts toward the freedom of the future. Their sails are tattered from their long, tortured course through tumultuous waters, but the first rays of the light of hope have already touched them as they approach the brighter road to freedom, represented by the light glints on the surface of the calm water. As the rolling thunderclouds thin out, one black runaway reaches yearningly toward the promise of liberty, while the other three escapees struggle to keep the sails together. Although three of the runaways are black slaves, the white servant is their fellow companion, working together with one black slave rather than alone. Additionally, his appearance is almost identical to that of the black slaves, except for the color of his face. They are all together in their struggle toward the shared hope of golden freedom and better lives.