The Sweetness of Water confronts the nature of injustice, exploring in particular the injustices formerly enslaved Black people in the South faced at the conclusion of the Civil War. The novel shows that ending slavery was necessary but insufficient in stamping out racial injustices in the region. Though they were suddenly able to move beyond the plantations where they had been enslaved, Black Southerners often found little opportunity to improve their circumstances. As an economically depleted society struggled to rebuild, there were few resources. Many whites scorned Black people’s attempts to earn money, because they believed that their own needs were more important. This attitude can be seen after George offers Prentiss and Landry fair wages to help him on his farm; he is met with consternation by those who believe that he should have employed whites instead. Isabelle intentionally defies this attitude when she posts signs seeking to employ help without eliminating candidates by race. 

Landry’s death is the most acute and tragic instance of racial injustice in the narrative. After he is brutally murdered, the sheriff refuses to recognize his death as a crime, even though the physical evidence of the fatal beating is clear. Following Landry’s death, Prentiss demands that the sheriff and Wade at least speak the name of his brother and recognize that he was a respectable man. When they further disrespect his brother’s memory, Prentiss is driven to retaliate by spitting in Wade’s face. This choice places his life in jeopardy; although he is a free man, he is still subject to the entrenched bigotry of Southern society. Therefore, Prentiss is not only imprisoned but nearly hanged for his supposed crime. This exemplifies the legal injustices which Black Americans have continued to face after emancipation.

The novel offers various portraits of characters expressing love through personal sacrifice. Landry’s physical sacrifice demonstrates his deep care for the other slaves on his plantation. Selected to endure the accumulated punishments of every slave, Landry never complains about the brutal beatings he receives each month. Landry’s physical sacrifices also protect his brother and mother, who are helpless to end his torment. After being freed by the Union troops, Prentiss clings to the brother who has endured so much, recognizing the significance of Landry’s sacrifice. 

Caleb sacrifices his comfort and that of his family in an effort to assist Prentiss in escaping to the North. Because he feels that he failed Landry in his final moments, Caleb believes that this is a necessary sacrifice. Caleb abandons his home and his parents who love him, because Prentiss is doomed without his intervention. This sacrifice demonstrates Caleb’s character growth as he is willing to risk his own life to save the life of another man, refusing to comply with the injustices which are condoned and perpetuated by his society. Finally, when George joins Caleb and Prentiss on their journey, he both affirms Caleb’s sacrifice and makes a sacrifice of his own by diverting the sheriff and Webler, thereby allowing the two young men to escape to safety.

The fates of the novel’s central characters demonstrate the incessant and ubiquitous nature of suffering in human life. The starkest forms of suffering are endured by Prentiss and Landry, young men who move on from the brutalities of slavery to forge an uncertain existence in the landscape of post-emancipation Southern society. Although the brothers find some stability with the Walker family, they are still subject to violence and injustice. Indeed, Landry is murdered by August Webler, who evades blame for his crime,...