Fido (symbol)
Fido was Frado’s dog, which Jack bought for the girl. In fact, Fido became Frado’s best friend, companion. Fido symbolizes truthfulness and devotedness. None of ever living creature – both animals and humans, loved Frado as much as this dog did. It never left her, listened to her hardships, licking her face and simply warming her through the cold nights. Fido is a symbol of faithfulness never known to a human.
Free slave (allegory)
Frado was left by her mother in the house of the Bellmonts, but it never meant that Frado was a slave. She was free, just she never realized her freedom, and she never knew what to do with it. Frado was a child, and there was no place for her to go, so she had to stay in the house where had to work hard. Frado was kind of a contradiction – she was free, but at the same time she worked as a slave and was never paid for her work. Only when she turned eighteen Frado left the house and made her living by herself. Being employed and paid finally brought her the realization of her freedom and that she was not worse than any other person – white or black. Skin color does not decide the contents of one’s heart.
Loneliness (motif)
The motif of loneliness of the main character goes through the entire novel since her childhood she was lonely. She stays lonely in the house of the Bellmonts. Each of her friends left her one by one. Even when she was married, she was lonely again – her husband continued going to the lectures of abolitionists when finally died for yellow fever. The only companion of Frado was her dog, but she had to leave it when left the Bellmonts.
