Beech tree - “A Country Girl”
Mary hood writes, “Every year they arranged themselves under the identical beech tree for the reunion.” The beech tree represents the permanency of the family’s reunion. The reunions rise above mortality whereby, the demise of one family member does not encumber the occurrence of the reunions through the years.
Uncle Cleveland’s chair - “A Country Girl”
Before the reunion, “His (Uncle Cleveland) chair to preside was already set out in the shade of the beech tree.” The chair denotes of Uncle Cleveland’s supremacy that is why no other family member can sit on it. Uncle Cleveland’s advanced age accords him the pre-eminence to steer the family reunions.
Bare toes - “A Country Girl”
Elizabeth Inglish typically walks bare-footed. The bare toes point at the heavenly nature of the valley. She is not alarmed by the propensity of hurting her legs because “Paul Lilley’s pasture” is a picturesque place.
Mrs. Harris’ studio - “A Country Girl”
Mary Hood elucidates, “The writer peered in the window at the lifeless studio, left as if it had been when the enterprise of imagination ceased, decades since.” The studio represents ingenuity because Mrs. Harris wrote from there when she was alive. Her death is aligned with the cessation of imagination because she would no longer write from the studio.
The Riders - “How Far She Went”
The riders connote patriarchal ferocity. They intimidate the grandmother (without regard to her age) and her granddaughter with a gun. The grandmother and the girl are compelled to take cover under a muddy cottage to elude the savagery.
The beer - “How Far She Went”
The beer depicts acute insobriety. It motivates the ‘bike riders’ to continue distressing the grandmother and her granddaughter. Perhaps, if it were not for the beer, the riders would have conducted themselves honorably.
The dog - “How Far She Went”
The dog epitomizes predestined sacrifice. Mary Hood writes, “the woman held the dog in her arms; she dropped to her knees upon the random stones and murmured.” Clearly, the woman cherished her dog, thus killing it, for the sake of their lives, hurts her immensely. Rocking the dog cannot resuscitate it.
