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Symbols
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
The Dibs in Search of Self quotes below all refer to the symbol of Doors, Walls, and Locks. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
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.
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Chapter 15
Quotes
“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.
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Chapter 17
Quotes
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.
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Epilogue
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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.
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Get the entire Dibs in Search of Self LitChart as a printable PDF.
Doors, Walls, and Locks Symbol Timeline in Dibs in Search of Self
The timeline below shows where the symbol Doors, Walls, and Locks appears in Dibs in Search of Self. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...him—she knows he has a reason for what he is doing. Then Dibs says, “No lock doors,” over and over again. Axline observes aloud that Dibs doesn’t like doors to be...
(full context)
...the experience. Dibs takes Axline’s hand, and they walk halfway down the hall. When the door to Dibs’s classroom is in view, Axline asks if he can go the rest of...
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Chapter 3
...she’s led to the drawing room, she hears the muffled sound of Dibs screaming, “No lock door!”
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...that Dibs’s bedroom very likely has every toy money can buy—but it also has a door and a secure lock. She wonders why Dibs’s mother is so terrified about the prospect...
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Chapter 5
...hook the panel into the correct groove. Axline observes that he got it on and locked it. Dibs gives a brief smile and says, “I did.” Dibs also draws a lock...
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...can focus on his feelings and communication rather than her evaluation. Dibs then draws a lock on the door of her house. Axline thinks that his art is creative and unique.
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Chapter 8
...screamed at his father that he hated him. Dibs’s father then carried Dibs upstairs and locked him in his bedroom. When Dibs’s father returned, he started crying, which Dibs’s mother had...
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Chapter 9
Dibs next removes the walls and the door from the dollhouse and buries them in the sandbox. Then he pushes...
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...melody is clear and sweet, but his words are harsh: he sings that he hates walls, doors that lock, and the people who shove him into those doors. He says he’ll...
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Chapter 11
After Dibs finishes his story, he then walks over to the dollhouse and locks it up. When Axline asks why Dibs did that, Dibs says he doesn’t know. He...
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...realizes what happened and comes over to see if Axline fixed it correctly. Dibs then locks the playroom door. After a moment, Axline tells him to unlock it because it’s time...
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Chapter 13
...children shouldn’t have too much sugar and that if there’s any more fussing he will “lock [them]—in [their] room.”
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Chapter 15
...doll is away at school. The father doll is in the house alone. The father unlocks the boy’s room and the boy runs out of the house because the boy doesn’t...
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...house, a giant boy comes along—so big that nobody can hurt him. The giant boy locks the windows and doors. Then the father starts smoking his pipe and the house catches...
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...his tears and uses the boy doll to save the mother and father doll. He unlocks the doors and puts the fire out. Dibs returns to Axline, smiling faintly, and says...
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Axline thinks that the locked doors in Dibs’s life have brought him intense suffering, as they have deprived him of...
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Chapter 19
...talking about his family and his school. Then he asks why his father slammed the door, saying that his father is “stupid and careless.” He says he doesn’t want his father...
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...Dibs turns on the recorder once more, threatening his father by saying that if he locks Dibs up again, he’ll kill him. When he is finished, he asks Axline to save...
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Chapter 20
...she doesn’t do what he says. He threatens that if she screams and cries, he’ll lock her in her room. According to Dibs, the mother is afraid to be locked in...
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Epilogue
...humiliation” to someone who is trying to succeed. The letter concludes that the educators must “unlock the door” of ignorance and prejudice. He says if his friend is not reinstated, he...
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