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Guntis
The Night Sea
Subhi’s “Night Sea” symbolizes his youthful, magical way of looking at the world, which is one way he copes with the horrific violence that permeates his real life and with his ba’s absence…
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The Book
Jimmie’s mum’s notebook represents connection. Immediately after Jimmie’s mum’s death three years before the novel begins, Jimmie saved and hid the book because it contains a beloved story that she loved to hear…
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Rats
The rats at the detention center symbolize the distance between the child characters’ youth and compassion, and the adult (or functionally adult) characters’ cynicism and hopelessness about their situation as refugees. Subhi is disturbed that…
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Sparrows/the Bone Sparrow
Sparrows, and specifically the Bone Sparrow necklace, represent hope and change. The novel first introduces sparrows when Subhi finds one sitting on his pillow, and his sister Queeny insists, terrified, that this is an omen…
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The Duck
The rubber duck that Subhi steals from Harvey represents Subhi’s youth and need for support. When Subhi steals the duck from Harvey around the time that Maá starts sleeping all the time and Eli is…
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Get the entire The Bone Sparrow LitChart as a printable PDF.
