middle man

In the novel the Middle Passage the main character Rutherford Calhoun seems to be constantantly the middle man of many issues. In fact as i have been reading the book i believed that maybe the books title was not only based upon the fact that they are on the slave route the middle passage but also because Rutherfords almost middle man status. On the ship the crew is constantly trying to find a way to get rid of their captain Falcon. They want Rutherford to go into the captains quarters and set it up so that someone can sneak in, because he found a way to get in. however throughout the novel Rutherford has formed an interesting almost bond friendship with the captain, often having deep conversations with Falcon about his life. He is instantly the middle man and doesnt really know which side to take in this situation. Rutherford is also in the middle when it comes with his relationship with the slaves. Being that he is the only one of the crew that even slightly resembles the slaves. So he ends up forming bonds with some of the slaves and even gaining a little girl named Beleka who is attached to his hip. They also tell him to go to their part of the ship one night and to bring anyone whome he wants to save.