Pecans Symbol Analysis

The pecans in the backseat of Hazel’s family’s car initially represent her childlike nature At the beginning of the story, Hazel explains that she doesn’t like sitting near the pecans during the drive because “they dusty sometime and make you cough. And they got a way of slidin around and dippin down sudden, like maybe a rat in the buckets.” Although Hazel tries her best to be fierce and independent throughout the story, her fear of the nuts is immature and irrational, remind readers that for all of Hazel’s wisdom and confidence, she is still a child.

Later in the story, Hazel also uses pecan-picking as an example in her argument with her parents about integrity, making them a symbol of the importance of keeping one’s word. She says she only set the movie theater concession stand on fire because the manager lied and cheated, which goes against the values she was raised with. “And if you say me and Baby Jason can go South pecan haulin with Granddaddy Vale, you better not be comin up with no stuff about the weather look uncertain or did you mop the bathroom or any other trickified business,” she explains to her parents. The pecans thus symbolize Hazel’s immaturity, but also her unflappable sense of justice.