Innocence and experience
Through a painful encounter with death, Sue Ellen is thrust from the realm of innocence into the realm of experience. The drastic shift in imagery marks the whole novel. The father shows that in his perception of the world, death has long been accounted for, but for this daughter, the discovery of a dead body—her own friend's dead body, at that—was truly horrifying, as it might be for anyone. The imagery of her experience extends into her journey, as she carries the cremated remains of her friend, a visual depiction of the way she carries her experience into the future.
Death and legacy
The death of her friend is part of a broader imagery because as she begins to re-experience her life in light of her new insight about death, everything changes for her. She begins to see the fleeting nature of time and human life, and she starts thinking about what could potentially outlive death. For instance, she feels it is wrong to leave May Lynn's body the way they found it. Like Antigone, she feels it is her duty to give that body a burial. In the end, this imagery leads to a discovery about May Lynn's death; her death was not a suicide but a murder. Correcting her legacy helps Sue cope with death, showing a connection between the two.
Community
In her family, Sue has community, but she also constructs community from scratch by inviting people into her narrative. She travels with friends, and their shared experience leads to a birth of deep friendship and trust. Along the way, the imagery is fleshed out through motif; each person adds their unique flavor to the group, and through their conversations, the reader learns that the community of friends has advantages to each person corresponding to their emotional desires. Each person is improved by risking rejection to find friends.
Darkness and shadow imagery
There is an important imagery in the novel that is alluded to by the title. The imagery of chaos is shown as darkness and shadows. Sue finds a dead body in a murky pond, standing on the Edge of Dark Water. She peers into the chaotic nature of human death (chaotic because she doesn't understand its nature). In light of that experience, she emerges from the insulated belief system of her innocence into a more full appreciation of life. She sees that there is true darkness and malice in the world, like the murderer, Skunk.
