Absurdity of Racial Prejudice (Allegory)
Through its illustration of the absurdity of racial prejudice, The Last White Man can be interpreted as an allegory—a story that carries a symbolic moral or political meaning. Hamid explores the absurdity of racial prejudice by depicting a majority-white society in which each citizen, one by one, spontaneously changes skin color. Fearing that their own whiteness is at risk, members of the white population react to the phenomenon with prejudice and violence against the recently changed and the minority of people who have always been dark. However, the tumult subsides as the society enters a new reality in which every person is brown. The racists, now dark themselves, reassess their prejudice as they realize there is no meaningful difference in being brown. Ultimately, the impulse to differentiate oneself based on race is shown to be irrational; the only meaningful differences stem from perception.
Militants (Symbol)
The white militants who band together to harass dark people are a symbol of mass paranoia. Defined as the delusional belief that you are being persecuted or betrayed by others, paranoia spreads among the white population as increasingly more white people spontaneously change skin color. Oona's mother believes that the militant groups who form are virtuous and necessary protectors of the remaining white population, which she thinks is under threat by dark people. In reality, the militants use intimidation and violence to strike fear into dark people, running them out of town and, in some cases, killing them. In this way, the paranoia that brings about the militants leads the militants to enact the persecution of which they believe themselves to be victims.
Video of a Killing (Symbol)
The viral video of one man killing another is a symbol of voyeuristic pleasure. When riots sweep through "the country" and businesses temporarily close, Anders and Oona stay inside with their respective parents. Videos proliferate online, one of which shows two men getting into a conflict that ends with one man shooting the other. Hamid notes that the person filming the video from a distance reacts by saying, "Oh shit oh shit," as though simultaneously concerned and giddy with excitement. With this detail, Hamid hints that the person recording the conflict derives a twisted pleasure from witnessing the killing. When they post it online, it proliferates widely among other people who can't help but watch, both frightened and riled up by what they see.
Anders's Father's Burial (Symbol)
Anders's father's burial as the last white man in town is a symbol of social progress. While not a notable member of society, Anders's father becomes significant as the last person in the town whose skin color hasn't spontaneously changed. At his open-casket funeral, Anders's father is the only white face in the room full of mourners who are there to pay their respects. Anders's father's burial marks the beginning of an era in which everyone in society is a dark-skinned person. With his death comes the birth of a new society where people live in greater harmony than they did in the past, most people having been humbled by their transformations and made wiser by the self-reflection the transformations brought about.
Oona's and Anders's Daughter (Symbol)
The daughter Oona and Anders bring into the world is a symbol of optimism. Having survived the upheaval and uncertainty that came about with people changing color spontaneously, Oona and Anders embrace their new lives and new selves, renovating Anders's childhood home to start their own family within it. Their daughter, a member of the first generation to know nothing of the racially divisive past, does not want to hear from her grandmother about the whiteness their family has lost. Instead, Oona's and Anders's daughter shows her grandmother and parents the necessity of embracing the tangible present.
