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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Disguises
Throughout the novel the characters take on many disguises, emphasizing the slipperiness of identity. Wylan wears two disguises during the poker game, as he’s dressed as a waiter and tailored to look like Kuwei. He acknowledges that these costumes are disorienting and contribute to his feeling of uncertainty about his actions and identity. This sense of destabilization is later deepened when Jesper inadvertently kisses Kuwei instead of Wylan, which feels to Wylan like a betrayal. Patrons of the Barrel often wear disguises to mask their respectable personae so they can take part in the gambling, pleasure houses, and other disreputable activities, suggesting they have shame for their actions and in some way live double lives. At the same time, Kaz and the gang use this fact to their advantage to hide from the stadwatch and from Van Eck, each of them dressing up as Mister Crimson and passing out identical costumes to revelers. Thus, obscuring one’s identity through disguise can also be a protective measure, an act that allows one’s true self to remain unscathed.
Death
Throughout the book, the gang harnesses the fear of death in order to defeat its enemies. This becomes central with the emergence of Nina’s dark powers, which stem from her brush with death when she was on parem. Once she understands that her powers have a new source, she enlists death to fight the gang’s battles, turning corpses into warriors and terrifying all of Ketterdam by faking Queen Lady’s Plague. Similarly, Matthias, Kuwei, and Jesper escape seemingly insurmountable odds by creating fake ghosts in the battle on Black Veil. These actions suggest that the one thing that trumps the greed that runs rampant in Ketterdam is fear of death. The gang’s parting motto—“no mourners, no funerals”—stresses the fragility of life in the Barrel and the gang’s awareness that death could always be just around the corner. But finding a way to work with death, and the fears it inspires, allows the gang to escape from Ketterdam by pretending to be corpses. Just as Kaz became a force to be reckoned with in the Barrel by using his brother’s dead body on the Reaper’s Barge to return to the city, the six members of the gang all must confront their individual fear of death to overcome their enemies and be free to live.
Shame
Many characters in the novel are paradoxically fueled and constrained by shame. Though Nina is often called shameless and disavows its influence, the way she behaves during her parem addiction fills her with shame. When she has an intense craving for the drug, she forces herself to recall how she attempted to use her sexuality to manipulate Matthias, a memory that helps her maintain her sobriety. Similarly, Jesper is filled with shame by his gambling addiction, especially as it leads him to accidentally share information with Van Eck about the gang’s plans. Jesper blames himself for Inej’s capture, and the weight of this misstep makes him question himself. Wylan suffers debilitating shame for being unable to read and internalizes his father’s relentless claims that he is worthless. Yet, when Jesper and Wylan are able to overcome some of their shame, they both become more powerful. Jesper realizes that his sharpshooting is a function of his Grisha powers, while Wylan sees that he’s capable enough to beat his father and run his empire. While shame can sometimes motivate positive behavior in the novel, more often it holds characters back from understanding their true potential.
