Washington Black Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, STEM Fields Lack Diversity and our BookBrowse Review of Washington Black.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Big Kit tells Washington that "If you dead, you wake up again in your homeland. You wake up free." How does this line resonate at the end of the book, in the final moments as Wash asks about Dahomey and looks out into the horizon?
2. Why do you think Big Kit didn't tell Wash that she was his mother? Do you think he would have responded to Titch's offer differently had he known? How might his life have been different?
3. Another secret kept in the novel is when Philip delays giving Titch the news of his father's death—which turns out not to be true. How does this lie compare to Big Kit's? How is Titch's response different from Wash's?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.