Gray stucco house (Symbol)
The stucco house emblematically represents emptiness, loss, and the gap left behind by Celia, Ruth's mother. Celia succumbs to cancer two days before Ruth's graduation ceremony. Ruth sad because her mother was the pillar of the family and an icon of encouragement. The author writes, "By the end of summer, the ground floor of the modest gray stucco house at 1584 East Ninth Street stood vacant, a symbol of loss and abandonment following her mother's death and her father's emotional and economic collapse."
Kiki (Symbol)
Kiki is the nickname given to Ruth by her elder sister Marilyn to symbolize strength, energy, and a fulfilling future. Unlike other children, Ruth was sharp, determined, and encouraged to solve problems that faced women and minority groups. Ruth lived to fulfill her wishes. The author says, "The new baby, energetic from the start, kicked so much that Marilyn promptly dubbed her Kiki." Kiki embodied greatness and success for the little Ruth.
Crumbling of the banking system (symbol)
The author allegorically uses the banking system's crumbling to represent the Americans' poverty and suffering in the year 1933. The banking system drives the country's economic growth, and its collapse signifies the start of financial challenges for the entire family. The boroughs family was among the many families that strained to survive during the unprecedented economic depression. The author says, "The banking system had crumbled, wiping out the hard-earned savings of millions. One wage earner in four was laid off, and According to the U.S. Children's, one out of five children was not getting enough to eat. As tax revenues dried up, teachers went unpaid"
Nathan Bader
Nathan Bader symbolically represents maturity and responsibility. Nathan arrived in New York at the age of thirteen, and he got used to hard life because he belonged to the minority group which faced discrimination from the dominant white community in the early 1920s. Nathan worked so hard and learned English at a night school. He worked at his father's business until he felt that he was financially secure to marry Celia. The author writes, "Nathan worked in his father's business, Samuel Bader and Sons, which specialized expensive furs. By the 1920s, he felt financially secure enough to marry Celia Amster." This symbol's significance is that it reminds the reader of the importance of hard work and financial security before settling down for marriage.
Benjamin's marriage (symbol)
Benjamin's marriage to Buddy symbolizes the Jewish traditions, in which two brothers could comfortably marry sisters. Benjamin is Nathan's brother, who is married to Celia, Buddy's elder sister. The author writes, "Because Nathan's brother Benjamin had married Celia's younger sister, Bernice (Buddy), the Bader brothers and their wives decided to share the downstairs of a two-family house in Flatbush until they could afford to live in separate houses on East Ninth Street." The reader might find it satirical that two brothers married to two sisters live in the same house. However, the Jewish traditions do not condemn that act, and other communities around the globe do the same thing to protect the interests of the family, just like the Indians.
