55 pages • 1-hour read
King of Ashes
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and death.
The Carruthers Crematory
The Carruthers crematory serves as a motif that contributes to the theme of The Weight of Family Loyalty and Generational Trauma. Many defining moments for the novel’s plot and characters take place at the family business, which is described as “a dusty red-brick monolith set against the crumbling skyline of the city of Jefferson Run” (10). Because Roman and Dante cause the accident that kills their mother at the crematory, the building becomes the focal point of both the Carruthers’ loyalty to one another and the trauma that weighs them down; as their father Keith says, “This is ours. We have to bear this. No one else” (305). Keith shows great loyalty by shielding his sons and bearing the town’s revilement on his own shoulders.
In a parallel to Keith cremating Bonita to protect Roman and Dante, Roman burns up Getty and Cassidy to protect his brother. Cosby closes the novel with the pregnant Jae going to the crematory and realizing that Roman is now the leader of the Black Baron Boys. The author’s choice of the crematory setting cements the theme and the novel’s cynical view of human nature by indicating that the Carruthers’ trauma and destructive loyalty will be passed down to another generation.
Names
Cosby gives the protagonist and his siblings symbolic names that offer insight into their key traits and character arcs. The name Roman evokes the majesty and brutality of ancient Rome as well as the empire’s collapse. This dichotomy reflects the main character’s fall from grace. As his power and wealth expand over the course of the novel, he descends deeper into violence and corruption until he turns the infamous Black Baron Boys into his own criminal empire: “He has taken Torrent and Tranquil’s kingdom and made it his own” (331).
Dante’s name calls to mind Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy. Dante’s Inferno depicts hell as a place where poetic justice is meted out. Similarly, Dante Carruthers’s deal with the Gilchrist brothers mires him in a hell of his own making. He’s keenly aware of the destruction his choices wreak on his life and those of the people around him, and he sees punishment for his offenses as an inescapable truth of the universe: “It’s not karma I’m afraid of. It’s getting what I deserve […] Karma is what comes back to you for what you done. Getting what you deserve is just what finds you eventually” (141). Despite his reputation as a reckless “party boy,” Dante possesses an insightful view of flawed human nature, a fitting quality for a character who shares a name with the great Italian poet and philosopher.
Neveah is an alternate spelling of Nevaeh, a popular American name that is ‘heaven’ spelled backwards. At first, her name’s divine associations align with the character’s role as the most ethical of the three Carruthers siblings and the one who has striven to keep the family together for years. In this role, she serves as her brothers’ conscience, repeatedly beseeching them to sever their ties with the gang. However, just as ‘Neveah’ is not quite ‘heaven’ spelled backwards, Neveah Carruthers is not without faults. For example, she considers herself and the married Chauncey “equally yoked in their sin” through their affair (64). Near the end of the novel, the character who was once the most morally sound of the three siblings murders their father out of a misguided sense of justice. The symbolism of Neveah’s name fits with the novel’s jaded view of human nature and the morally ambiguous world of the noir thriller, where even a righteous character is capable of something unspeakable.
Dogs
Dogs symbolize weaponized loyalty. Literature often portrays loyalty as a virtue that inspires good deeds, but Cosby’s noir thriller demonstrates how it can be leveraged to perpetrate horrors. Torrent cherishes dogs because they “don’t care about nothing but you being they friend” and will destroy any “punk that try to mess with you” (203). The gang leader sets his faithful pit bulls on his foes, resulting in some of the novel’s grisliest murders.
This parallels how Roman wreaks destruction on his enemies by sending his devoted friend Khalil after them. The mercenary obeys Roman’s every command, hurrying to his side as soon as he’s summoned to Jefferson Run and faithfully executing every target set before him. Cosby likens Khalil to animals and weapons throughout the novel: “Khalil was like a loaded gun. […] Roman wanted to point him at the Gilchrist brothers and pull the trigger until it went click” (61). Comparisons like this emphasize Roman’s responsibility as the strategist and decision-maker behind the crimes Khalil perpetrates out of loyalty to his friend.
The dogs’ symbolic meaning contributes to the resolution’s impact. After killing Torrent, Roman instructs, “[M]ake sure those dogs get to good homes. Just sell them at the farm. Don’t let a shelter get them, okay?” (322). This command reflects the protagonist’s desire to move the Black Baron Boys in a less violent direction. At the same time, Roman has no need for the dogs because he has Khalil, who is capable of far more horrific deeds. Roman’s awareness of this fact casts a pall over his attempts to soothe his conscience:
Nights in Jefferson Run will be quiet from now on. He says this even as he thinks of the call he got last night from Khalil saying that he’d finally caught up with the man who had robbed Lil Glock and had convinced him to return the money with the help of a straight razor and a bottle of rubbing alcohol (330).
The symbolic connection between Khalil and the dogs is important to the tone and significance of the ending. Roman’s victory over Torrent and Tranquil is not a triumph for morality because loyalty will still be weaponized to perpetrate violence in Jefferson Run; only the identity of the person commanding that loyalty and ordering that violence has changed.
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