The works of William Shakespeare function as a recurring motif that highlights the theme of Fostering Connection Through Storytelling, showing the lasting power of stories to provide comfort, articulate complex emotions, and ultimately serve as a tool for justice. The motif is introduced through Colette’s father, Claude, who entertains his fellow miners by reciting Shakespeare’s plays from memory, offering them a brief escape from their brutal working conditions and reinforcing their shared humanity. For Colette, Shakespeare becomes a framework for understanding her own life. After her father’s murder, she quotes Shylock from The Merchant of Venice: “If you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” (60). This line encapsulates her consuming desire for retribution, linking her personal tragedy to a timeless literary expression of grievance. The motif’s meaning evolves when Alice uses a quote from Hamlet—“the croaking raven doth bellow for revenge” (168)—to dissuade Colette from killing Finn Benson, turning the language of revenge into a plea for mercy. The motif culminates in a moment of poetic justice when Millie uses a heavy volume of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare as a physical weapon to knock Finn unconscious. In this final act, the symbolic power of words and stories is made literal, as a collection of classic literature becomes the instrument that stops a villain and brings his reign of terror to an end.