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The bombs that go off at four distinct moments in three different Sunset Towers locations symbolize the pent-up feelings of the people who are playing the titular Westing game in hopes of becoming the heir to Sam Westing’s $200 million inheritance. The first bomb goes off in the kitchen of the Theodorakis family’s coffee shop, the second goes off in the kitchen of Hoo’s restaurant, and the third goes off in the Wexlers’ apartment during Angela’s bridal shower. It’s eventually revealed that Angela herself is the one who set these off. The fourth, set by Turtle in order to try to maintain the illusion of her sister’s innocence, goes off in the elevator. The “bombs” are really fireworks—their colorful, noisy explosions outwardly symbolize three emotional breaking points among the heirs as their pent-up, closed-off suspicions of one another escalate and explode. The heirs, having been told that someone amongst them is a murderer, never feel fully safe around one another. These tensions rise to a head in the moments surrounding the bombings.
The bombs escalate the suspicions among the heirs—suspicions drawn on lines of race, class, gender, and social backgrounds. They also externalize the wild emotions that each of the heir is experiencing, demonstrating the need to learn to trust one another and lean on each other in a difficult, confusing time. No one suspects the angelic, beautiful Angela—a white, heterosexual, beautiful 19-year-old girl—of being the bomber, though it is she who has been setting off each set of fireworks with the hopes of becoming a victim of her own trap. Angela hates her own beauty: it is the first thing everyone sees, and it is the reason her academic career has been cut short so that she can be married off to a pompous doctor. Angela’s bombs take three attempts to fulfill their purpose—and by the third bombing (which permanently disfigures Angela’s face and hands), it is clear that the Westing game players would rather point fingers at immigrants and minorities than someone as “perfect” as Angela. The bombings, then, bring out the structural prejudice that keeps the Westing heirs from working together and trusting one another while symbolizing the tensions, frustrations, and even self-hatred that such an environment can inspire.
The Four Bombs Quotes in The Westing Game
The The Westing Game quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Four Bombs. 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 1
Quotes
Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake.
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Chapter 15
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The coffee shop was full of diners.
Shin Hoo's restaurant had reopened. too, but no one came.
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Chapter 16
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Angela was still seated on the cushion in the middle of the floor. Fragments of the scorched box lay in her burned hands. Blood oozed from an angry gash on her cheek and trickled down her beautiful face.
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Chapter 27
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The great winter fireworks extravaganza, as it came to be called, lasted only fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes later the Westing house had burned to the ground.
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The Four Bombs Symbol Timeline in The Westing Game
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Four Bombs appears in The Westing Game. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12
...of the stove over which they were kept. George and Catherine, however, insist that a bomb went off—the kitchen filled with red and purple sparks. As the Hoos and the Theodorakises...
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Chapter 13
...restaurant, bundled up in snow boots and scarves. As he announces his entrance, the second bomb goes off.
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Chapter 16
...a mean gash on her cheek and that her hands are badly burned. The third bomb has gone off.
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...next to Sydelle’s. Angela claims to be unable to remember anything about the moment the bomb went off. Turtle sits by her sister’s bed and comforts her—Angela is worried about damage...
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Chapter 17
...not the only anxious one—all the heirs are nervous in the wake of the third bombing. The bomb squad is called several times to inspect “suspicious” packages that end up being...
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Chapter 20
...that his formula was miscalculated—his lab equipment blew up, shattering glass into his skin. A bomb squad detective questions Theo as a doctor removes shards from his shoulders—but Theo has alibis...
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Chapter 21
...he had a conversation with the police earlier—and didn’t mention anything about Turtle being the bomber. Turtle asks what Theo means. Theo, of course, believes that Turtle is the bomber. He...
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...calls the elevator. When it arrives in the lobby and the doors open, rockets and fireworks whiz out of the elevator. The final firework does not explode until the elevator returns...
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The bomb squad brings Turtle to 4D to see the judge. As Ford questions Turtle about her...
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Chapter 22
...in front of them. She apologizes to her crying mother for setting off a “few fireworks.” Jake tells Turtle they’re going home. He urges her to have fun with Flora at...
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...from Barney Northrup, demanding repayment for all the damage done throughout the building by Turtle’s bombs. Turtle kicked him in the shins—her hardest kick ever. Before Turtle knows it, the drilling...
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Chapter 23
...Angela leaves, too. Turtle follows Angela to make sure she doesn’t set off any more fireworks.
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Chapter 30
...is married to Schultz and retired in Hawaii. Eastman asks what became of Angela, the bomber. She says that Angela is now an orthopedic surgeon. Angela and Denton are married—and now...
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