SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / METAPHORS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS

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.