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
Peter Haas arranged for a guide to meet Tanna and Wash in Marrakesh, but the guide is nowhere to be found when they arrive, so they have to take rooms in Marrakesh. They try to hunt down Goff’s marine zoologist, but this leads to a dead end as well, and so they begin to explore the bright city and its markets, trying to find someone who might be able to help them.
Wash continues to journey in order to confront Titch about their shared past. But time and again he ends up in a situation where he is simply floundering, purposelessly wandering the city on the slightest hope that someone can help. This again underscores how much time and energy Wash is wasting in order to confront the past, not even knowing whether he will truly be able to find satisfactory answers for what happened.
Themes
One morning a few days later, near the markets, a man introduces himself to Wash—he is the original guide who was supposed to lead them to Titch. He explains that he was very sick the last few days and apologizes. He then gets Wash and Tanna a caravan that will take them to Titch’s house. As the hours crossing the sand drag on, Tanna falls asleep, and Wash wonders how far Dahomey is from there. He thinks that again, Titch has brought him to another unfamiliar place.
The fact that Wash’s mind goes to Dahomey in this moment only reinforces how his journeys stem from a kind of rootlessness. He is moving from place to place in order to try and find closure or make a home for himself, when in reality understanding his past will not make him less restless or give him greater belonging in the present.
Themes
Night falls quickly, and the heat drops dramatically as small buildings rise up in the distance. Tanna and Wash disembark and see the town—which is really a few scattered stone dwellings. A boy steps out, and the guide talks to him and the boy starts to lead them to a courtyard. Once there, Wash sees a man step from a doorway, with a live hen in his hands. Wash calls out, “Titch,” and in surprise the man lets go of the hen. Titch jokes that he’s late for dinner, but Wash can see that Titch is trembling.
Even though Titch makes a joke upon first seeing Wash, his trembling illustrates that he is very afraid of what Wash might do or say. While Wash has been traveling in order to confront his past, Titch has likewise been journeying in order to avoid the past. But just like with Wash, the past is actually inescapable for Titch, as Wash was able to find him anyway.
Themes
