SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / METAPHORS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS

Another element that is very dominant in this novel is that of a motif or a recurring thematic element used in the development of a literary or artistic work. There are three motifs in this novel.

The first is that of faith or as Dad always says, Have I ever let you down?

1. Whenever Dad feels that his children lose faith in him, he asks them, Have I ever let you down?

2. Right after he tells Jeannette that he is dying, he asks, Have I ever let you down and then grins, because he knows and she knows what the answer is.

The second motif is that of order and turbulence.

Some examples include:

1. After Jeannette and Brian have blown up the garage, Dad tells them they came really close to finding out what goes on in the fine line that separates the two.

2. As they are finishing their Thanksgiving dinner, the candles shift for no reason and dance along the border between order and turbulence.

A third motif is that of moving. The family finds itself constantly on the move for one reason or another.

Some examples include:

1. A few months later, Dad comes home in the middle of the night and makes everyone get up and pack. They are moving.

2. The family was always doing the skedaddle. Dad refers to them as being chased by FBI agents, but Mom explains it's just bill collectors on their tails. They move like nomads, living in dusty little mining towns, the more desolate and isolated a place the better.

3. As a result of all the moving, the children have few close friends: they're not in one place long enough to make deeper attachments.

4. The girls are talking about whether they like moving around so much. Jeannette says she does and Lori says she does, too, but the reader is left with the impression that maybe she doesn't enjoy it all that much. They count eleven places where they have lived, places where they unpacked all their things, before they lose track. They can't remember the names of most of the towns or they what the houses looked like. Mostly Jeannette remembers the insides of cars. Jeannette wonders what would happen if they didn't move around a lot to which Lori responds, We'd get caught.

5. The family sets off again with Dad driving and holding a brown bottle of beer with one hand. He takes a sharp turn, the door flies open, and Jeannette falls out of the car.

6. Dad and Mom try the system again at the blackjack tables a few days later, but come back quickly so the family can skedaddle. The dealers had figured out that they were playing with a system.

7. At the zoo, Dad says the civilians are revolting, and they have to leave. The security guard escorts them out while Jeannette can hear people talking about the drunken man and his dirty urchin children.

8. Jeannette leans out the window and hollers, Dad, please come, we need you! All the rest of the family chimes in with same words. Dad throws away his cigarette, lopes over to the car, and tells Mom to move aside - he's driving. West Virginia, here they come!

9. Mom loves the gold Cadillac and begins using it to take her paintings to craft fairs throughout West Virginia. They sleep in Elvis on these trips and the traveling reminds Jeannette of how they would pick up and move on a moment's notice when she was younger. It had always been so easy. Once you resolve to go, there is nothing to it.

10. The family arrives to pick up Lori. All she has are her clothes, her favorite books, and her art supplies in a single cardboard box. She hugs everyone, but Dad, to whom she has not spoken since he took Oz. Then she climbs into the car and is gone, never looking back.

11. Jeannette receives a phone call from Mom, announcing that she and Dad have come to New York. The white van on the freeway is theirs, and it had been quite a drama on the road when Dad began arguing with the police.

12. While standing there looking at Dad, his eyes closed, Jeannette has the urge to pick him up in her arms and charge through the doors, checking out Rex Walls - style one last time. Then, after he is gone, she finds herself always wanting to be somewhere other than where she is. She begins ice-skating, because the fast-paced maneuvers help distract her and exhaust her to the point where she doesn't have to think. She eventually realizes that being on the move isn't enough; she needs to reconsider everything.