A whip (symbol)
A whip is a common implement in creating submission among slaves, and in this account becomes a symbol of obedience. It is referred to by the narrator as a “sovereign remedy” for every form of disobedience, temporal or spiritual. Always used with an unsparing hand, the whip gives a lesson which is called “genteel flogging”.
Singing (allegory)
Singing and songs, or any other joyful noises, amount to a common attribute among slaves, and it is thought by mistake that slaves are happy because they sing. But the narrator tells what a lie it is. Slaves sing because their hearts are filled with sorrows and through the song they try to give it a way. In this way, the singing becomes an allegory for relieving one’s despair, their melancholy sadness is put into the singing. When the narrator was yet a boy, he used to sing under the windows of Miss Lucretia, who treated him kindly and even was considered his friend. And this singing of his was “a petition for a piece of bread”. This fact and many other proves that singing of slaves was not a declaration of happiness but simply a cry of a soul and heart.
Knowledge (allegory)
Writing and reading are now talents demanded of everyone, but in the faraway years of slavery these abilities were forbidden, among slaves in particular. In the book, knowledge is highly respected by the narrator himself, as it helped him to become free; thus, knowledge becomes an allegory for path to freedom.
