The plaster acorn represents the germ of Faraday’s obsession with Hundreds Hall. When Faraday is a child, he visits Hundreds with his parents and falls in love with its magnificence. While there, he sees a plaster border that decorates one of the walls. While no one is looking, he pries a plaster acorn from the border and puts it in his pocket. The acorn is Faraday’s way of keeping the experience of Hundreds Hall with him at all times. Acorns are seeds and therefore symbolize growth and potential. However, Faraday’s acorn does not last long because Faraday’s mother destroys it in a fire when she finds out about it. The destruction of the acorn suggests that Faraday’s desire to live in a place like Hundreds Hall will never come to fruition. As it turns out, Faraday’s mother is right. Although he tries, Faraday never achieves the material wealth found on display at Hundreds in his childhood. However, the seed of his desire never goes away; even in the closing pages of the novel, Faraday still finds himself returning to Hundreds and wishing he owned it.
The Plaster Acorn Symbol Timeline in The Little Stranger
