All motifs
Religious Imagery
Pilate
The act of washing hands as a biblical allusion to Pontius Pilate - evading responsibility for harm done to an innocent person.
Evasion of accountability: the powerful figure washes their hands of responsibility while the vulnerable party bears all consequences.
Appears in 1 song
Would've, Could've, Should've
Midnights · 2022
“If you got to wash your hands?”
The hand-washing alludes to Pontius Pilate washing his hands of responsibility for Christ's crucifixion, the older man evading accountability for what he did to the speaker as a child.
StructuralPilateaccountabilitybiblical-allusion
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