It was all he had. His story. A man's story is his gris-gris. Taking his story is like taking his gris-gris. The thing that is himself.
-- Raven Quickskill (chapter 1)

Importance: Raven Quickskill says this of Josiah Henson; Quickskill believes that Harriet Beecher Stowe stole Henson's personal story without his permission and adapted is into the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Quickskill's statement that a person's story defines them is thematically salient to the novel overall, as Quickskill finds storytelling as an important way of not only exploring the world, but also a way of reshaping it.

If they’d asked to buy themselves, perhaps we could have arranged terms. But they didn’t; they furtively pilfered themselves…They have committed a crime, and no amount of money they send me will rectify the matter.
-- Arthur Swille (chapter 3)

Importance: Arthur Swille makes this statement to articulate his reasoning for wanting to recapture the runaway slaves. Swille attempts to couch his...