The Water Dancer

by

Ta-Nehisi Coates

A social category that consists of white workers who are often poor and work in terrible conditions.
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Low Term Timeline in The Water Dancer

The timeline below shows where the term Low appears in The Water Dancer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Memory vs. Forgetting Theme Icon
Broken Families Theme Icon
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
...inside, trying to keep warm. Hiram walks past the cabin belonging to Boss Harlan, a “low white” who works as the overseer on the plantation. He searches for signs that might... (full context)
Chapter 4
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
Maynard gazes at Corrine, but then goes to stand among the low whites. Hiram is always astonished by the position of the low whites in society. They... (full context)
Chapter 11
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
A group of low white men get out of the carriages, and Hiram feels a sense of horror as... (full context)
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
...his wagon. The black men are left frozen with shock and fear. One of the low whites walks over to the black men and whacks one of them over the head... (full context)
Chapter 13
Memory vs. Forgetting Theme Icon
Stolen Skills, Power, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
...who lead the agents through this training regime are all white, some Quality and some Low. Meanwhile, Hiram also resumes his studies with Mr. Fields, picking up where they left off... (full context)
Chapter 14
Stolen Skills, Power, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
...man named Parnel Johns who was stealing crops from his master and selling it to low whites. The master responded by punishing all the enslaved people on his plantation as a... (full context)
Chapter 16
Memory vs. Forgetting Theme Icon
Broken Families Theme Icon
Stolen Skills, Power, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
...a cook. Her first master treated her with some appreciation because he liked her food, allowing her to work part-time for wages, but after he died a low white enslaver (the... (full context)
Chapter 23
Memory vs. Forgetting Theme Icon
Broken Families Theme Icon
Stolen Skills, Power, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Water, Movement, and Freedom Theme Icon
Humanity vs. Inhumanity Theme Icon
...very young. He was a natural rebel, and Harriet learned Conduction from him. Enslavers and low whites would try to restrain him, but Abe always escaped, humiliating them. A white man... (full context)
Chapter 24
Memory vs. Forgetting Theme Icon
...to find her again later. He spends the day completely still, watching. He sees two low whites going out for a hunt, and a mix of Quality and Tasked children playing... (full context)
Chapter 27
Memory vs. Forgetting Theme Icon
Stolen Skills, Power, and Knowledge Theme Icon
...as they are inside, Corrine exchanges coded words with the clerk, and Hawkins and two low white men immediately lock the door and draw the blinds. To his astonishment, Hiram realizes... (full context)