The purpose of In the Wake is to examines the effect of social, cultural, and political exclusion of black lives in society (after slavery) by implementing the metaphor of “wake” and using it in various ways. Alongside, Sharpe uses similes, first person, symbolism, repetition, and quotation from numerous other authors to look at the historical and social processes, and “to tell a story capable of engaging and countering the violent of abstraction”. Since the word “wake” is a homonym, the author shifts the definition of “wake” to justify each part of her story. It is also very symbolic since the word can mean numerous things at once, yet depending on a specific situation, it could only have one definition. As the story progresses, “wake” becomes
