I am not sure I have a take away. Certainly the story illustrates how slave were viewed as non persons. Certainly it underlines what we all should know that slavery was not just a think of the US. Really probably 90% or even 99% of us are descendants of slaves if you go back far enough.
It also illustrates how resourceful people can be to survive on such a tiny strip of treeless land for so long. Imagine keeping a fire going for 15 year with so little fuel for the fire. Imagine child birth in such circumstances. Imagine being brave enough to attempt to sail off that island. It is to me breath-taking how easy our lives are compared to people in the past.
True. And if not slave ancestors, then perhaps indentured servant ancestors. I suspect that some of my Irish, Scotch-Irish, and Dutch ancestors might have come to America as indentured servants. Being an indentures servant wasn't as bad as being a slave. Well, it apparently was bad enough in some cases for the servants to run away. See, for example, the following advertisements offering rewards for the recovery of runaway servants. I found these advertisements in 1787 Philadelphia newspapers: Link
The papers said that one of the escaped servants, a Dutchman, had been purchased from on ship board. So, they apparently could be sold like slaves.