The Ivory Awl: Maternal Protection, Memory, and Agency in Let Us Descend

What Is the Ivory Awl?

The ivory awl is a slender, needle-like tool carved from an elephant’s tusk. In Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend, it is a physical heirloom passed down through three generations of women. Mama Aza, Annis’s grandmother, first obtained the awl during one of her hunts as a young bride in the Fon kingdom. It later came into the hands of Annis’s mother, who wore it hidden in her braided hair. On the night she fears her sire’s predatory advances, Annis’s mother gives the awl to Annis, whispering that it was her own tool of quiet resistance against the same attacker. The object is small enough to be concealed in hair or clothing, yet it carries immense emotional and symbolic weight.

Where the Ivory Awl Appears

The awl first appears in Chapter 1: Mama’s Bladed Hands. While lying together in the clearing after a day of fighting drills, Annis’s mother removes the awl from her hair and places it in Annis’s palm. She explains its origin—a piece of an elephant tusk from Mama Aza’s hunt—and her own use of it as a hidden defense. Annis later hides the awl in her own hair when her mother is torn from her during the sale.

In Chapter 5: City of Woe, Annis is held in a New Orleans slave pen. After the seller labels her a “fancy girl,” she clenches her hands and thinks, “I would bury the awl in this short man’s eye.” Here the awl is not physically used but exists in her imagination as a weapon of vengeance. In Chapter 6: Surrender, while waiting for the auction, Annis pats her hair to confirm the awl is still there, calling it her “one piece of armor.”

The awl’s most pivotal appearance is in Chapter 12: Ferrywomen. Trapped in a punishment hole during a storm, Annis climbs using iron spikes and then, stuck at the grate, remembers her mother’s words: “You your own weapon.” She slides the ivory awl from her hair, jabs it into the lock, and picks it open, completing her escape.

Shifting Meaning: From Gift to Weapon

The meaning of the ivory awl changes with each recurrence, tracking Annis’s internal transformation.

Initially, the awl is a gentle gift—a token of a mother’s love and a lesson in cunning. Annis’s mother explicitly says, “You don’t need this ivory or them spears. In this world, you your own weapon.” The awl is thus a teaching aid, not the weapon itself. In the slave pen, Annis’s murderous fantasy shows the awl becoming a symbol of violent resistance—an alternative to the passive witness of spirits like She Who Remembers. Finally, when Annis physically uses the awl to open the lock, she merges her mother’s lessons with action. The object that once stood for being a weapon now functions as one, marking the completion of Annis’s agency.

Character and Theme Connections

The awl binds together several characters and major themes in Let Us Descend.

• Annis’s mother : The act of giving the awl is her final complete gesture of love. It carries her story of survival and her teaching that Annis’s true strength lies within. The awl is a physical extension of the maternal bond that the slave trade tries to sever.

• Mama Aza : The awl’s origin in an elephant hunt connects Annis to a lineage of warrior women. Mama Aza’s courage in confronting a massive animal is compressed into this tiny object. The awl becomes a conduit for ancestral memory and lineage.

• Themes : The awl links four central themes. It embodies the mother-daughter bond through its passage from hand to hand. It represents endurance through resistance, both in the mother’s secret use and Annis’s eventual escape. It is a tangible reminder of forced separation and loss—the mother is gone, but the awl remains. And its transformation from kept heirloom to working tool mirrors Annis’s spiritual descent and awakening, as she learns to act on the wisdom passed to her.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the ivory awl connect Annis to her mother and grandmother?
The awl is a physical heirloom from Mama Aza’s elephant hunt, passed to Annis’s mother, who used it to resist her enslaver. By carrying it in her hair, Annis keeps their presence and teachings close. The object becomes a tangible link to a lineage of warrior women who survived through cunning and strength, reinforcing Annis’s identity as Arese, her true name.

2. Why does Annis think of “bury[ing] the awl in this short man’s eye” in Chapter 5?
After the seller labels her a “fancy girl” and the spirit She Who Remembers fails to intervene, Annis experiences an intense desire for violent agency. The awl in her imagination becomes a weapon of retribution, contrasting with the passive witnessing of the spirits. This moment shows her rage and the seed of the determination that later drives her escape.

3. What is the significance of Annis using the awl to pick the lock in Chapter 12?
It transforms the awl from a passive keepsake into an active tool of liberation. Annis recalls her mother’s words—“You your own weapon”—and the awl becomes the literal key to her freedom. This act completes the arc from receiving the object as a lesson to wielding it as an instrument of agency, proving she has internalized her mother’s teaching.

4. How does the awl’s meaning evolve over the novel?
The awl shifts from a gift of maternal protection to a symbol of memory and rage, then to a practical instrument of escape. Each appearance reflects Annis’s own growth: from a dependent daughter to a captive who dreams of revenge, and finally to a fugitive who uses the tool to seize her freedom. The object never changes physically, but its role in Annis’s life deepens as she learns to act on the strength her mother knew she had.