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Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi
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Symbols & Motifs
The Book of Anansi
The Book of Anansi serves as a symbol of The Tensions Between Fate and Agency. In addition to giving the novel its title, the tome shapes the genre and plot because a quest for a powerful object is a classic way to structure a fantasy adventure. During the climax, the three story boxes merge to form the Book of Anansi, which takes the form of “a leather-bound book” with “[g]olden Adinkra symbols shimmer[ing] along its spine, and an orange spider glow[ing] on its cover” (414).
The book connects to the theme of fate because it contains dangerous prophecies, “words that can reshape worlds, rewrite destinies, and unravel the very fabric of reality” (205). The symbol speaks to the futility of resisting fate because Anansi’s wish that the book would go to a Manifestor child wearing an Adinkra necklace is fulfilled despite President DuForte and Lady Thema’s efforts to prevent this. Indeed, the more these supporting characters seek to control fate, the more they “played right into destiny’s hands” (308).
During a key moment, the Apprentice uses the Book of Anansi to unleash Nic’s Badili, a power that is essential to her prophesied role as the Manowari, despite her attempts to subdue her power and deny her destiny. The Apprentice and the rest of the Za Siri hope that assembling the book will bring about their interpretation of the Manowari’s fate, a revolution that will overthrow LORE. However, their scheme backfires when Nic uses the power the book unleashed to escape the Za Siri’s clutches. At the end of the novel, the Apprentice escapes with the Book of Anansi, keeping it and the details of how Nic will fulfill her destiny as the Manowari a mystery for the time being, but hinting that her path will cross with the book’s once again.
The Adinkra Necklace
The Adinkra necklace symbolizes The Struggle for Power and Control between Nic and her grandmother. The “delicate gold necklace” has four charms bearing Adinkra symbols from the Akan people of West Africa (93). The piece of jewelry originated as a gift from the Merfolk to Nic’s beloved ancestor, Sarah Freeman, but the Gift-dampening juju that President DuForte places on the necklace twists it from these positive associations of trust and freedom and taints it with her fear and desperation to control her granddaughter.
The president gives Nic the necklace after the incident with Mrs. Reyes, which suggests that Nic’s power is something to be dreaded and subdued rather than understood and utilized: “Every time I look at it, I think of Mrs. Reyes. What I did to her. I know I’ve gotta wear it—I can’t risk hurting someone again—but it also makes me feel…trapped. Like I’m not normal. Like I don’t belong here with everyone else” (149). The object is one of the most overt demonstrations of President DuForte’s desperation to maintain control despite the growing danger and distrust dividing the Remarkable world. The Apprentice points to the necklace as proof that “LORE has always feared what it cannot control” (408).
Through the novel’s climax and resolution, the necklace’s meaning shifts as Nic claims ownership of her power and defies her grandmother’s control. By having “the pendants on [the] necklace crack to pieces” during the climactic ritual (421), Thomas emphasizes that Nic and her power are too strong for DuForte to control. In the penultimate chapter, Nic “rip[s] it off [her] neck” when she confronts DuForte (447), making it clear that she will no longer allow the woman to control her. At the end of the novel, Nic chooses to wear the necklace again, and Grandpa Doc repairs it so that it’s “good as new” (459). Crucially, this is the main character’s choice. She wants to protect people from her power because she recognizes she isn’t in control of it yet. By donning the mended necklace, Nic reclaims the symbol, embracing it as a representation of her power, resilience, and determination to achieve self-control.
“For the Greater Good”
The phrase “for the greater good” is a motif that invokes The Struggle for Power and Control. President DuForte frequently employs the words to justify her and LORE’s “hard decisions,” such as keeping the Remarkable world a secret instead of using the Gift to help Unremarkables (92). DuForte’s utilitarian rationale is unsatisfactory because she attempts to legitimize institutionalized discrimination and arbitrarily decides which of her citizens’ welfare is included in “the greater good.” For example, the Za Siri want the Manowari to usher in a revolution because they believe “[t]he only greater good LORE is concerned with is its own survival and power, and they will lie and mislead to protect it” (410). In addition, the exiled, non-Manifestor Remarkables openly laugh at the phrase because they know from personal experience how “the greater good” makes a convenient excuse to limit marginalized groups’ rights and freedoms in the name of safety and security.
Over the course of the novel, Nic learns to see through these empty words. Initially, she goes along with her grandmother’s plan and wears the Adinkra necklace: “Grandma said it’s ‘for the greater good.’ Which it is…I think” (157). The protagonist’s doubts grow as she sees how the decisions that DuForte makes for the sake of the greater good harm the people she most wants to protect, her family. A key moment occurs when the president defends her choice to disguise Roho as the Blakes’ groundskeeper: “‘My children have been living with that madman. Why, Momma?’ Grandma doesn’t hesitate. ‘It was for the greater good.’ There they go again, those four words. For the greater good. ‘I’m so sick of hearing that!’” (448). Nic’s rejection of her grandmother’s philosophy empowers her to move from ceding control to DuForte to exercising self-control. Likewise, in the novel’s final chapter, Grandpa Doc declares that Nic has the Badili “for a reason […] [w]hether it’s for the so-called greater good or not” (458).
The novel’s resolution challenges DuForte’s invocation of the phrase “for the greater good,” exposing it as a hollow attempt to justify her domineering control over her family and the Remarkable world. The motif’s deconstruction aligns with Thomas’s social critique of government interference and institutionalized prejudice.
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