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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
The Middle Drawer
The middle drawer is a symbol of the secrets that Shawn kept, the emotions he kept locked up, and the pent-up violence that characterizes his community. When Will looks around his brother’s side of the room, he sees that the only thing out of place is the middle drawer of his dresser, which houses the gun that Will later learns Shawn used to kill Frick when avenging Buck’s murder. By describing the middle drawer as askew, Will gestures to the fact that there was something wrong with the drawer’s existence indicating the trappings of their community’s Rules. Shawn died, in part, because he felt he had to steel himself against his emotional nature and because he was duty-bound to participate in the culture of violence around him. This secrecy kept Shawn from his family. When Will, who would never venture into the drawer when Shawn was alive, takes the gun from it, he inherits the secrecy, pain, and violence that ultimately cost his brother his life.
The Elevator
The elevator is a symbol throughout the novel of the place in between life and death where Will can learn about himself, his family, and the nature of grief. As soon as Will enters the elevator, The Rules change. Smoke doesn’t waft out of the elevator but instead accumulates in an oppressive fog that mirrors Will’s grief. Time moves slowly, crawling nearly to a halt, as his entire life-changing journey takes place within a single minute. Will understands that he is no longer in everyday life but instead is surrounded by a procession of dead people, each of whom has a message or lesson for him. This suggests that this liminal place between life and death brings Will closer to the truths he’s unable to see when he is merely among the living. It also provides Will a unique opportunity to face the dark side of his familial and community expectations. By facing death, Will is able to begin to envision a different life for himself, one not dictated by violence and self-repression.
The Lost Tooth
The lost tooth is a symbol that represents how, in grieving, Will is mourning a part of himself that he’s lost. Will describes his grief by asking the reader to imagine that they wake up to find a stranger ripping out one of their big, important back teeth. This illustrates that losing his brother and death in general is a violation, wherein something deep within the tenderest parts of Will, something intrinsic to his sense of safety and being, has been violently snatched away. It also illustrates that grief is painful and robs him of not only his brother but also a part of himself. Will also says that the worst part is the tongue probing the socket, searching for the lost tooth, painfully aware of its absence, of what used to be and what should still be there. This illustrates how disorienting it is for Will to continually look for his brother and again and again find him permanently gone. While a child losing a tooth is a normal rite of passage, this image upends the idea of a child’s lost tooth, replacing innocence with violence and loss.
