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William
The Cloud-cutter
The Cloud-cutter has two layers of symbolic significance. For both Wash and Titch, the Cloud-cutter represents freedom, but it represents an inability to escape from the past. Initially, Titch builds the Cloud-cutter to make…
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The Octopus
The octopus represents Wash’s inability to build a satisfying home for himself, even years after escaping slavery. In Nova Scotia, Wash finds the octopus on a dive for father-daughter biologists Goff and Tanna…
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The Nail
The nail symbolizes Wash’s futile resistance, and the threat that resistance actually poses to the enslaved people on Faith Plantation. When Titch demands that Wash come stay with him in his quarters, Big Kit…
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