“A black so definite, so unequivocal, it astonished him. He had been harboring a skittish apprehension that he was not real - that he didn’t exist at all. But when the blackness greeted him with its indisputable presence, he wanted nothing more.”
This quote really shows Shadrack finding his identity. After he was in the war, Shadrack lost himself in the horrors that he witnessed. Seeing his reflection for the first time in what seems to have been a long time gave him strength that he didn’t know he had. It is especially clear that he had lost his identity when he states that “he didn’t exist at all.” He hadn’t seen himself in so long that it seemed as though he wasn’t even really there. Identity is something we have talked about not just this year, but for many years. We have seen a lot of character finding themselves, such as Emma.
- Sandra
