Santa Claus
Eva compares Falk to Santa Claus. She regards Falk's act of rewarding her with a doll magical and special. Harper writes, "Her parents had once mentioned that it had been Falk who'd given her a doll that had been her constant companion for the past few years. That, coupled with the fact that she only saw Falk in person on rare occasions, had given him something of a Santa Claud allure." The doll is spare because it came from a man equivalent to Santa. Eva carries it everywhere because of the Santa ambiance it brings. Simple presents like dolls can contribute to the creation of special and strong relationships between children and adults.
“Gondolas or Cages”
Falk has vivid memories of the Ferris wheel he saw on the night Kim mysteriously vanished. Harper writes, " The carriages on the wheel were the enclosed kind, like gondolas or cages, designed to seat family or friendship groups together." Falk's vivid memories underscore that the night of the festival was memorable. The wheel had distracted him due to the sound that it emitted. Moreover, Rohan was behind the wheel at that moment.
Frozen
Falk’s memories of the six-year-old Zoe are frozen in his mind. Harper explains, “He realized the little girl... must be Zoe Gillespie, who until this moment had remained frozen in his mind at six weeks old." Falk had seen Zoe when she was six weeks old. Her appearance at that age remains in his mind. The permanence of the memories is equivalent to freezing.
