Theme

    An important symbol I’ve noticed so far is the association of flowers with Grace and Mary, so this could be seen as a symbol of their friendship. The flower imagery occurs throughout the story, specifically red flowers which made me think that it could also be associated with death. This symbol is introduced in the very first page of the novel and it becomes a recurrence. On page 197, Grace goes to Mary’s coffin to put flowers on her grave and says “…there were long-stemmed roses and peonies; and we chose only the white ones. I scattered the petals of them over her as well, and I slipped in the needle-case I’d made for her, but out of sight, as it might look wrong otherwise, being red…”. This symbol come backs in the form of the handkerchief that Mary gave her that is “…a white ground printed with blue flowers…” (p. 204.) The red flower imagery comes back on page 242 when Grace is telling Dr. Jordan about her dream of red flowers. This symbol is obviously important since it occurs throughout the novel so far and I wonder just how significant it is to this story all together.