Doors, walls, and locks symbolize Dibs’s alienation and lack of acceptance by others. In Dibs’s very first therapy session with Dr. Axline, he expresses how much he doesn’t like locked doors—and gradually, Axline discovers that this is because Dibs’s parents often punish him by locking him in his room. In this way, doors and walls literally separate Dibs from others. And on a figurative level, they remind him of the fact that he doesn’t live up to his parents’ expectations and therefore isn’t accepted by them.
Dibs is painfully aware he is of how disconnected he is from other people, as doors and locks constantly appear in his play therapy with Axline. He draws a lock on the door of the dollhouse in the play therapy room, and when he paints a picture of a house, he also includes a lock on it. Dibs is clearly preoccupied with doors and locks, which highlights his lack of security in his environment—he’s never sure when the doors and walls around him will be used to isolate him. Dibs’s intense fear additionally illustrates that he doesn’t want to be so separated from the world; instead, he yearns to remove the walls in his life. He often literally does this with the dollhouse, removing the walls and the doors so that it is open and exposed. This action symbolizes Dibs’s wish to improve his social skills and be accepted by those around him.
Doors, Walls, and Locks Quotes in Dibs in Search of Self
He clasped his hands tightly together against his chest and said over and over again “No lock doors. No lock doors. No lock doors.” His voice took on a note of desperate urgency. “Dibs no like locked doors,” he said. There was a sob in his voice.
I said to him, “You don’t like the doors to be locked.”
Dibs seemed to crumple. His voice became a husky whisper. “Dibs no like closed doors. No like closed and locked doors. Dibs no like walls around him.”
Obviously he had had some unhappy experiences with closed and locked doors. I recognized the feelings he expressed.
“I weep because I feel again the hurt of doors closed and locked against me,” he sobbed. I put my arm around him.
“You are feeling again the way you used to feel when you were so alone?’ I said.
Dibs glanced back at the doll house. He brushed away his tears and stood there breathing heavily. “The boy will save them,” he said.
Always testing him. Always doubting his capacity. Trying to get closer to him and all the time only building a wall between us. And he always did just enough to keep me at it. I don’t think any child was ever so tormented with the constant demands made upon him that he pass this test and that test—always, always he had to prove that he had capacity. He had no peace. Except when his grandmother came to visit. They had a good relationship with each other. He relaxed with her. He didn’t talk much to her. But she accepted him the way he was and she always believed in him. She used to tell me that if I relaxed and let him alone he’d come out of it all right.
There are things far more important in this world than a show of authority and power, more important than revenge and punishment and hurt. As educators, you must unlock the door of ignorance and prejudice and meanness. Unless my friend is given your apologies for this hurt he has received to his pride and self-respect and is reinstated then I shall not return to this school this fall.
Doors, Walls, and Locks Symbol Timeline in Dibs in Search of Self
