The mountains
The mountains stand as a kind of survival test for Sam Gribley. Survival is what he is practicing by leaving his community. His time on the mountain, in the thick woods, can be viewed as a kind of testing in the wilderness. He is asked to be on his own, surviving emotional loneliness, and he is asked by the grave dangers of the mountain to be alert and skillful about his survival, using all his resources to avoid failure, which could mean death.
Edible and inedible plants
Food growing from the earth is a compound symbol, because food means that Sam could survive. Sounds easy, right? Sam has to eat the food that grows on the ground. Except that mixed in with tasty berries and nuts are a whole litany of poisonous plants that will kill him if he eats them. This simple task serves as a symbolic reminder about the test of survival, and in an inverse way, it also signifies the progress of human society, because knowing edible plants is no longer part of daily life.
The falcon
Frightful's name is a symbol for wonder, which is what Sam finds on the mountain. Death is what is frightful to him, and his falcon friend happily helps him to be an agent of death, which helps him immensely. He is able to have new kinds of food because of the hunting bird, and as a symbol, Frightful can be seen to symbolize the sacred animal instincts that Sam discovers in his survival. Perhaps it can even be seen as a spirit animal.
The new clothes
When he finally adapts to the mountain, he realizes he needs new clothing, so he makes it from the pelts of the animals that he kills. He wears deer and rabbit fur as clothing, and this demonstrates the ultimate success. He is completely self-sufficient, having solved his basic survival questions with permanent strategies. He wears the clothes as a sign of his new identity, found in survival competence.
The journey home
Sam has to brace himself emotionally for his homecoming. First of all, he ran away, so his return home will be a sort of resurrection for him, at least socially, because surely people believe he is dead. Also, the return is archetypal, because he will be bringing back all his skills and experiences to his community, not to mention the honor of his survival and questing. He can be a leader in his community eventually, because his new skillset is permanently valuable.
