In The Slave Dancer, what causes Jessie to lose his breath?

Interesting question! In the book The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox, Jessie loses his breath several times throughout the story.

Although Jessie loses his breath multiple times, he commonly seems to lose his breath in relation to the slaves. Frequently, when Jessie learns about the slaves, he loses his breath, which shows his shock and surprise. This happens multiple times.

For example, when Jessie sees the land from where they would take the slaves, his breath stops. As the text reveals:

“My breath came short – here, within eyesight, was the very world from which such slaves had been taken. Here on this small ship, we would be carrying God knows how many of them.”

This also happens when Jessie sees how the slaves are treated on the ship. As the text shows:

“Although many [slaves] were silent now, some continued to lament. I prayed they would stop for I had not drawn a breath since the child’s face [slave’s face] had appeared at the railing, and I wondered, gasping, when I would again.”

Thus, Jessie loses his breath multiple times. He commonly loses his breath in relation to the slaves. Additionally, Jessie loses his breath during other times as well, such as when he first comes on board and smells the ship (which arguably might be related to the odor of slave ships).