Stolen Necklace (Symbol)
The stolen necklace represents the risk of a criminal life. Early in the novel, Ray takes heat for his cousin after various underworld figures learn about the Hotel Theresa heist and find out that one of the stolen necklaces belonged to Chink Montague's girlfriend. This results in a series of threats to Ray's safety and a lot of people looking for Freddie. They eventually manage to escape danger after Pepper kills Miami Joe and attention on the heist dies down. The necklace serves as a symbol of the inevitable dangers of living a life centered around criminal activity.
The Furniture Store (Symbol)
Ray's furniture shop is a symbol of respectability. He aspires to make enough money from the store alone so he can move away from his fencing business. In the end, this isn't possible, and he becomes more and more entrenched in the criminal underworld as the novel progresses. Still, the store makes him known in the community and does, at different points, prove to be able to turn a decent profit. In this way, the store comes to represent Ray's "straight" life, showing his daytime activities and his visible, legal means of making a living. It symbolizes one side of his double life.
The Harlem Riots (Symbol)
The riots symbolize the unrest surrounding police brutality and racism in the city. Towards the end of the novel, Ray walks around and takes note of all the destroyed storefronts and hostile glances of the people around him. He sympathizes and agrees with the rage of the rioters, but also feels badly for the business owners who suffered as a result of the unrest. Whitehead uses the riots as a way to show the varied responses to prejudice in the Black community, reminding the reader that the reaction to these events was not monolithic.
Photographs of Duke (Symbol)
Ray takes several compromising photographs of Duke in bed with Laura and sends them to local newspapers. This destroys Duke's reputation in the community and causes him to leave town with stolen money in an effort to avoid the consequences. As the pictures are taken by Ray's criminal associate, Zippo, he reflects on how he has become willing to do almost anything to get proper payback. The photographs represent Ray's changing position in the criminal underworld as he goes from reluctant participant to active player, engaging in these activities with pleasure.
Consequences (Motif)
Consequences are a recurring motif throughout the novel. Freddie stealing from the Van Wycks results in his abduction and death. Duke rejecting Ray for a Dumas Club membership causes his downfall from power. Freddie's mention of Ray's name ends up implicating him in the Hotel Theresa robbery. The novel uses this motif to show how actions, particularly those involving betrayal or revenge, always have unpredictable consequences. Ray manages to outlast so many of the other characters because he is acutely aware of these consequences at all times.
