The archetypal mother and son
Esther's main character description is that she belongs to a Protestant religious sect and deeply believes her religion. This is an indication of the religious implication of her relationship to her son. She is the madonna, and Jack (whose name starts with "J" coincidentally) is the Christ Child. The novel therefore can be understood as the archetypal story of the mother who sacrifices her life just to allow her son to sacrifice his own.
The motif of life cycles
There is no mistaking the plot structure of this novel. Esther is caught in the cycle of fates, the Wheel of Fortuna, so to speak. Sometimes her life is broken and hopeless, but sometimes she has relative peace and a hope for the future. Even in her harsh life, she does enjoy several years of joy and relative security. In the end, her hope in the future pays off, and she is awarded for her willingness to suffer.
Esther as the Christ Character
Esther is named after the Biblical character from the Book of Esther who is captured by a king as his wife, and who willingly sacrifices her own safety and well-being in order to do what's best for her family back in the village. The Esther from this novel also depicts the same sacrifice, but in the context of her role as a mother. Although it's possible to associate Esther with Mary, it is also possible to associate her with Jesus himself. This reading is openly feministic, because it indicates that women can be the main character too.
Latch as a symbol for moral corruption
Latch is the kind of people who compromises. He finds a lovely young woman and leads her on, and then when his side girl cheats on him, he plays the victim and pretends to have secretly loved Esther all along. His family's money has been made dishonorably, and even in his dying days, he wastes all of Esther's inheritance on a bad bet.
Mrs. Barfield as the sacred mother
There is an interesting question mark above the two elderly women at the end of the novel. What is their relationship? The intimacy means the hint of romance, but perhaps a more nuanced way of interpreting that relationship is that Esther has endured a sacred pilgrimage through life, and the reward for her moral success is her final years having been reabsorbed into maternal safety, back into the arms of love, one might say. This means Mrs. Barfield would represent the sacred mother archetype.
