The Library Symbol Analysis

The library across the street from Claudia’s house represents Monday and all the parts of her life that she didn’t share with Claudia. The library’s association with Monday is, at first, very straightforward: the library was Monday’s favorite place, which is unsurprising given that Monday was a voracious reader and a good student. To Claudia, the symbolism seems obvious, and it only seems right that she thinks of Monday every time she sees the library.

However, after Monday goes missing and Claudia starts to piece together what Monday’s life was actually like, the library starts to take on a different meaning. The library was, in many ways, a place where Monday could escape her abusive situation at home and even try to ask for help. Monday believed that the government was tracking the books she checked out, so she regularly checked out novels about child abuse like Flowers in the Attic and Perks of Being a Wallflower in the hopes that someone would understand that this was a silent cry for help. But the librarian explains that the government doesn’t have access to this kind of data—and nor does anyone else besides the librarian, since this information is confidential. In this way, the library comes to represent all of the parts of Monday’s life that Claudia didn’t have access to or know about.

This association between Monday and the library is made all the more tragic because of Claudia’s dyslexia. Up until Claudia’s dyslexia is identified and she begins to get help for it, she relies on Monday to interpret books and other written materials for her. In other words, Monday mediates and interprets books for Claudia, and Claudia has to trust that Monday is rehashing the information accurately. Likewise, up until Monday disappears, Claudia simply trusts that Monday is telling the truth when she talks about her home life. But as Claudia eventually finds out, Monday often omitted or exaggerated information about her home life in order to keep her abusive situation a secret.

Significantly, it’s only when Claudia’s own reading abilities improve that she’s better equipped to piece together what was really going on in Monday’s life. It’s no accident, for instance, that Claudia only understands the significance of Monday’s affinity for Flowers in the Attic once she’s been getting consistent help for her dyslexia—she’s finally in a place where she can interpret the information in front of her for herself, rather than relying on Monday’s mediation. Thus, while Claudia continues to associate the library with Monday, Claudia is finally able to understand the written word—and Monday herself—all on her own.