Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Washington Black, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom vs. Captivity
Racism, Humanity, and Cruelty
Journeying and the Past
Family, Love, and Pain
Art, Science, and Curiosity
Summary
Analysis
Titch, Peter, and Wash journey through the piercing cold and snow. Wash marvels at the snow’s changing color and vastness. When they make a quick stop to rest the dogs, Wash makes a quick sketch of them. He and Titch speak very little, and when they continue to ride, Wash notices Titch’s increasing uneasiness, as though Titch is not yet ready to address his father.
Although Titch is overjoyed at discovering his father is alive, this passage suggests that Titch’s feelings towards his father are complicated. Even though he loves his father, he seems vulnerable or nervous reuniting with him, again reinforcing how difficult and convoluted family dynamics can be.
Themes
The sled stops at five enormous igloos, which Titch explains are insulated from the cold. Wash doubts this, but he understands that a lot of the world is unfathomable (though he knows this is an unscientific thought). As Peter and the Esquimau unpack their bags, Titch and Wash enter the third igloo. And there, out of a fire’s smoke, Wash glimpses James Wilde. He is short, fat, and brutally ugly, peering out from his hard, round face with four teeth missing.
Wash’s belief that parts of the world are unfathomable is interesting, particularly because he admits that this is unscientific. But this belief implies that Wash acknowledges some aspects of life aren’t meant to be understood. However, curiosity about those things, like Wash displays, is in and of itself a virtue even when one might not be able to find distinct answers.
Themes
Titch hugs his father desperately, and his father leads him out to the fifth igloo. Mr. Wilde understands that Titch and Wash are there because they thought he was dead. Mr. Wilde acknowledges that he heard the rumor from a friend, but he doesn’t know how it started and didn’t think it would reach Titch or Titch’s mother. Titch asks how the lie got to them, but Mr. Wilde snaps at Titch, saying he doesn’t know. Mr. Wilde then tries to smile, thanking Titch for making the journey even though it was a fool’s errand. Titch asks his father not to mention to his mother that he came to the Arctic.
This exchange with Titch and his father starts to flesh out the complexity of their dynamic. Even though Titch and his father clearly love each other and Titch’s mother, they also lie to each other and criticize each other. This illustrates how family members can be very hurtful to one another, particularly because they are subverting the love that they are supposed to show each other in doing so. Mr. Wilde’s statement that coming to the Arctic was foolish also hints at the idea that journeying to confront one’s past can be unhelpful and a waste of time.
Themes
As Titch and his father talk in the smoky warmth, Wash drifts off. When he wakes, he and Titch receive heavy furs for sleeping and a small candle. As they lie down to sleep, Wash asks Titch what he’s feeling, and Titch says he is very shocked, and he’s reminded how complex his father can be. Wash asks what they’ll do now, and Titch says that they can sleep and discuss in the morning.
Titch acknowledges that families are complex here; his tone even implies that he has been hurt by his father’s words, as he simply cared about his father’s well-being.
Themes
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In the morning, Wash and Titch eat breakfast with Mr. Wilde, though Wash is disgusted by the greyish cubes they are given to eat. Mr. Wilde asks what Titch has been doing, as Erasmus wrote that Titch was wasting resources at Faith. But before Titch can respond Mr. Wilde starts talking about Peter, who is his true assistant, his translator, and his best companion for years. He says it’s like what Titch has with Wash, but Titch contradicts him. Titch asks why his father hasn’t learned the Esquimau language and histories, but his father ignores him.
Titch critiques his father for being unwilling to learn the Esquimau language or history—implying that Mr. Wilde doesn’t believe that the Esquimaux are worth his time or respect despite working alongside them for decades. The book positions this as another example of racism, as Mr. Wilde believes that the Esquimaux are lesser than he is and does not treat them as equals.
Themes
Titch then tells his father that they improved upon his Cloud-cutter and got it to fly, and his father asks where it is. When Titch says that it’s at the bottom of the ocean, Wash chimes in, assuring the man that this is only because of the storm and that he would have been proud to see it. Mr. Wilde says he hopes they are better haulers than aeronauts so they can help carry his instruments.
The exchange between Titch and his father about the Cloud-cutter reflects both their relationship and how the Cloud-cutter has evolved to be a symbol of Titch’s inability to escape the past. While Titch wanted to use the Cloud-cutter to make his father proud, his father easily dismisses his accomplishments, which pains Titch. And so rather than being a symbol of freedom, the Cloud-cutter tethers Titch to his past failures and causes him to be even more intent on fixing the Cloud-cutter.
Themes
The days pass, and daylight is short. Titch and his father don’t speak of the Cloud-cutter again. Instead, they talk about their family travels to Paris, their estate in England, Titch and Erasmus swimming naked in a lake together, how Mr. Wilde took Titch to witness a balloon ascent, and how Titch was terrified when the balloon crashed and the balloonist drowned. They talk of Titch’s mother, and how she and Mr. Wilde met at a ball and talked about imprecisions in maps. Titch says that he and Erasmus used to watch his mother as she sat for Italian lessons in the afternoons. She was beautiful. Mr. Wilde says that they knew nothing about beauty, but Titch counters that children know everything about beauty.
As Titch and his father discuss their family life, they paint a picture of a generally loving family. And yet underneath these fond memories are hints of pain, like a traumatizing balloon observation. This is another reason why families can contain both love and pain, because they tie people to both good and bad memories in their childhoods. Additionally, Titch’s comment on children and beauty is notable, because it reinforces the connection between children’s curiosity and their ability to appreciate beauty (just as Wash does in his art).
Themes
