Falling Apples
The title of the book is a reference to the adage "the apple never falls far from the tree." The meaning of this proverbial wisdom is related to the genetics of inherited character traits, suggesting that offspring can usually be counted upon to act not terribly different from their parents. And, indeed, the story is an exploration of this idea as a major theme.
Tennis
Within the narrative itself, tennis is actually a more significant symbol than falling apples. The entire dynamic of the family at the center of the story is based upon a talent and obsession with tennis. Tennis is a robust symbol, of course, but is primarily represented here by virtue of it not being a team sport and thus the competitive effort is narcissistic, self-centered, and ultimately destructive to the losing player.
The Prologue
A short prologue prefaces the commencement of the narrative and is notable for being essentially unrelated to that narrative. It is a short story-within-the-story about a man coming across an abandoned bike on the side of the road who steals it and the four apples which apparently spilled from the bike's basket. Very pleased with himself, he drives off with expectations of makeup sex with his wife for a Valentine's Day fail only to wind up being instantly killed in a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler. The entire story serves as a symbol to set up the idea that fate is never completely random because choices are always being made.
Joy
The second thing the reader learns about the matriarch of the clan is that she has a new bike and it is gone. The first thing the reader learns is that she has disappeared. It is not until the next chapter that it is revealed her name is Joy. As in Joy has mysteriously gone missing. The symbolism is a bit more complex and far more ironic than that, but that's the basic idea: the joy that is expected to be there is revealed as being absent.
Apple Crumble Pie
Unfortunately, the novel features one of those slightly-too-precious families that have traditions such as always trying out apple crumble pie whenever they find it on a menu in some restaurant "in the forlorn hope that they might one day find" one as good as their father's mother used to make. Obviously, no family that has ever actually existed in the history of civilization has ever engaged such an absurd tradition and so, clearly, its unlikely prominence in the story must surely mean it is symbolic. It doesn't take a lot of work to figure the meaning out: it isn't just apple pie, but apple crumble. This is a family about to crumble because the apples don't fall far from the tree and joy has gone missing. Get it?
