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The narrator’s father
Watermelon
From the beginning of the story, references to the watermelon parallel references to the feminine. The watermelon, like Willadean, is the object of male attention: just as the three boys scrutinize Willadean’s manner of…
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Moon
The full moon represents the narrator’s youthful bravado: its light at first seems to bring clarity and strength, but then in hindsight it seems to have enchanted them into folly. When the night starts…
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Shotgun
Mr. Wills’s shotgun symbolizes the importance of vulnerability in masculine roles. In the beginning of the story, the gun is, in the community’s eyes, an expression of Mr. Wills’s over-the-top masculinity. The narrator’s…
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