39 pages • 1 hour read
Bone Gap
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Symbols & Motifs
Corn
From the beginning of the novel, the corn whispers to Finn. Ruby personifies the corn, meaning that she gives it human qualities. The fact that Finn can hear it makes Finn seem eccentric. However, the corn is revealed to others as a magical force, a symbol of the extraordinary in the ordinary. Corn captures the simple, rural setting. Corn fields are also haunting. They are a place to disappear into, the way Roza does.
Bees
Petey’s work with bees shows her character: She handles them bravely and tries to mask when one stings her, just as she tries to mask when she’s hurt by other people. Bees are also a symbol of the town Bone Gap. Like the bees, the people of Bone Gap are forever abuzz about the latest rumors. Finn can’t tell most of the people apart. However, he can spot an actual queen bee by her movements, just like he can see Petey for who she really is. Bees live in honeycombs and disappear into those holes, just like people in Bone Gap seem to slip through into The Fields.
Mirrors
Mirrors are misleading in the novel, and do not always reveal the true nature of a person. Finn examines his face in the mirror and tries to memorize his features, but even after staring at himself for minutes, he struggles to identify his face in photographs. Finn also has to confront himself in the House of Mirrors, but he doesn’t realize the person he’s seeing is just a reflection of himself.
When Roza sacrifices her beauty, she uses a shard of a mirror; this is Ruby’s way of exploring Appearance Versus Identity, of showing that one’s true self and appearance aren’t always unified.
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