Ace of Spades

The ace of spades playing card is a major motif in the story. On a surface level, the ace of spades is a symbol for Aces and represents the racist legacy of Niveus Academy. Members of the Ace of Spades Secret Society use the card to identify themselves to one another and to enact psychological torture against Black students. Chiamaka Adebayo and Devon Richards come to associate the ace of spades with Anti-Black Racism at Niveus and the racist plot to destroy their lives.

The ace of spades playing card is traditionally the highest valued card in a deck. As a white supremacist group, the Ace of Spades Secret Society members see themselves as the most valuable members of society. The ace of spades was also used by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. During French colonial rule in Vietnam, the ace of spades came to be associated with death, so American soldiers would leave the card on the dead bodies of Viet Cong soldiers as well as Vietnamese civilians to terrify them.

The context and history of the ace of spades playing card are carried into its

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