The Narrator’s Bedroom
The narrator’s bedroom symbolizes his idealized experience childhood before his family fell on hard times. In better times, the narrator’s parents went so far as to install a yellow sink in the bathroom that…
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Cats
The three kittens and cats that the narrator owns over the course of the novel represent the narrator’s loss of innocence and his gradual acquisition of knowledge. The narrator’s first kitten, Fluffy, represents innocence—and…
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Food
Throughout the novel, the meals the narrator receives from adults correspond to the degree of care and love that the narrator receives from his caregivers—or the lack thereof. The narrator’s father’s usual offering of…
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The Ocean
The mysterious, supernatural pond at the Hempstocks’ farm which Lettie calls her “ocean” symbolizes knowledge—specifically, a kind of knowledge that the novel suggests is unique to children. The narrator discovers this in no uncertain terms…
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