Other elements that are present in this novel include symbols and metaphors. Symbols are the use of some unrelated idea to represent something else. Metaphors are direct comparisons made between characters and ideas. There are many symbols and metaphors used by the author such as:
1. Once she even takes her favorite toy, a plastic Tinkerbelle figurine,
and holds its face to a flame. Before she can pull it away, the face begins
to melt. She puts bandages on it, but she wishes she could perform a skin
graft like she received. Of course, she knows that would mean cutting
Tinkerbelle into pieces.
2. Dad always tells bedtime stories that are always about him.
This symbolizes his need for his children to believe he is strong and
powerful.
3. It is a Joshua tree and a very old one at that. It exists
in a state of permanent windblownness, leaning over so far that it seems
ready to topple over. The Joshua tree symbolizes the Walls family and
the adversities they face.
4. Dad points to the top of the fire where the flames dissolve
into an invisible shimmery heat that makes the desert waver like a mirage.
He calls it the zone known in physics as the boundary between turbulence
and order. Dad says, It's a place where no rules apply, or at least they
haven't figured em out yet. You-all got a little too close to it today.
This zone is also a metaphor for the Walls family who seem to live somewhere
between turbulence and order.
5. Dad takes Jeannette out into the middle of the Hot Pot and
lets her go and every time she tries to grab on to him, he throws her
back into the middle again. She finally realizes she can't depend on him
and kicks and flails her way away from him and to the side of the water.
This is a metaphor for Dad's belief that children must be coddled. They
to sink or swim.
6. The road ahead seems to symbolize how Dad and Mom are constantly
looking for ways to avoid their responsibilities by always running away.
7. The children's new bikes symbolize freedom.
8. The lone cheetah in the zoo paces back and forth and is reminiscent
of Dad caged in the city.
9. Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn
to enjoy the comic episodes a little more. This is a metaphor for how
Mom has lived her life.
10. Instead of flat desert edged by craggy mountains, the land
rolls and dips like a sheet when you shake it clean. This is a metaphorical
description of West Virginia.
11. This first section of the third part of the book is full
of metaphorical ideas: the car which is so beat up and old that it won't
go any faster than twenty miles an hour represents the family and how
their lives unfold; the laughing Okies, who are stereotypically down and
out, but who laugh at the poor conditions of the Walls family; the change
in the land and atmosphere of West Virginia from Phoenix which also reinforces
the sense that the family is in even worse circumstances than they have
ever been; the house which also reinforces being down and out with its
downhill entrance, it's rotted floor boards, and strange odors; and Mom's
assertion that no matter how weird their environment, they will adapt.
12. The can of paint Jeannette used to try to make their house
look better freezes and can never be used again. This is a symbol of the
futility she faces when she tries to normalize her family.
13. The garbage in the hole beside their house, the rat that
lays down in Maureen's bed, and the frozen paint all represent the realities
of Jeannette's life that she just can't seem to overcome.
14. The Battle of Little Hobart Street where Jeannette and Brian
drove off Ernie Goad and the other bullies is symbolic of how being persecuted
you make stand up and fight against those who would persecute you.
15. Jeannette's identification with Francie Nolan, a character
in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn reflects the complicated relationship
she has with Dad.
16. The section about fighting is metaphorical to the Walls family
- they stick together, they have pride in themselves, and they stand against
their enemies.
17. One evening the whole family except Dad is sitting around
the living room. Mom keeps disappearing under the blanket until Brian
finally pulls it back and reveals that she has been sneaking pieces of
chocolate from a family-sized Hershey bar and then hiding it. She begins
to cry saying that she is a sugar addict just like their father is an
alcoholic. Brian grabs the bar and the kids break it into equal pieces
and wolf them down. This is part of the metaphor of Mom: she will take
food out of the mouths of her children.
18. Metaphorically, Dad and Jeannette's hysterical laughter about
the great location of their house is a symbol of how ludicrous their
lives are and what a fine line it is between laughter and despair.
19. After Jeannette tells Mom she has to get a job, Mom begins
painting a woman drowning in a stormy lake. That figure is a symbolic
of her hatred and fear of working to help anyone but herself.
20. Miss Jeanette Bivens, one of the English teachers who had
also been Dad's teacher, symbolizes success to Jeannette because she blossoms
under her guidance.
21. The Pentecostals who allow Maureen into their homes and church
symbolize saviors for Maureen who is a lost soul.
22. Jeannette just notices that the road back to Welch is dark
and empty after Dad uses her to scam a guy in the bar for money. It is
a metaphor for her life.
23. Jeannette is beginning to be very annoyed by her mother's
moods. Her positive thoughts are always overtaken by negative ones that
seem to sweep into her mind the way a big black flock of crows takes over
the landscape.
24. When Lori paints, she incorporates Gothic details like a
mist over a silent lake or a solitary crow in the branches of a bare tree
on the shoreline. This is symbolic of the darkness that frequently takes
over her life.
25. On the day Lori leaves, Jeannette eyes the pewter-colored
clouds that are the backdrop for most mornings in Welch. They remind her
of how isolated and forgotten the town is.
26. The familiar smell of Vitalis, tobacco, and whiskey surrounds
Jeannette as Dad hugs her goodbye. This smell symbolizes how much she
loves him.
27. When Jeannette arrives at Dad's place, he empties a bag on
the table, and it is filled with hundreds of dollars adding up to $950.
Also in one of the bags is a mink coat and he figures she can pawn it
for at least $50. He had won it all playing poker. So for her final year
at Barnard, Jeannette makes the payment with Dad's wadded, crumpled bills.
This behavior on Dad's part is symbolic of the deep love he has for his
daughter.
28. When Jeannette goes on long walks after Dad's death, she
usually sees Venus on the horizon. It is a symbol of the Christmas gift
Dad had given her and which she will always have.
29. Outside at the Thanksgiving reunion of the family, it grows dark and the candle flames suddenly shift, dancing along the border between turbulence and order. This symbolizes the environment that this family lived in for all those years.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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