Pole Symbol
"Sticks" tells the story of a father who decorates a large pole in his front yard according to the theme of the upcoming holiday. However, when he loses his wife, the pole becomes a symbol of his declining mental health, as the decorations become more and more elaborate and outlandish the more he unravels emotionally. The over the top decorations are a symbol of his escalating madness.
Knight Symbol
"My Chivalric Fiasco" tells the story of a janitor promoted to a "performer" at a Medieval theme park, and in the story he takes a drug to make him feel more authentically knight-like. The knight is a symbol of chivalry and this is why he decides to tell that he has seen his boss raping a co-worker - as a knight he is wired to rescue the damsel in distress, because knights symbolize all that is gallant, good and chivalrous.
Semplica Girl Symbol
In "Semplica Girl Diaries", the possession of a Semplica Girl is a symbol of affluence and success; Lilly's father purchases two Semplica Girls for her, so that she can keep up with her wealthy and popular friends at school, and they symbolize the fact that they are a well to do family who can afford the luxury of a human ornament.
Mind Altering Drugs Motif
One of the motifs in the story collection is the use of mind-altering drugs. In "Escape From Spiderhead", Jeff, Heather and Rachel are all given mind-altering drugs to see if they can be pharmaceutically made to fall in love with each other, or to feel an attraction to each other They are also threatened with the use of another, darker drug that has horrible side effects. When Jeff refuses to comply with the instructions of the experiment, a court order is obtained to give him yet another drug that will alter his mind in such a way that he becomes compliant and obedient.
"My Chivalric Fiasco" tells of a theme park worker who is given a mind-altering drug that makes him feel authentically knight-like, changing his personality into that of a medieval man of honor.
Turning A Blind Eye Motif
In many of the stories, the adage, "there's none so blind as those who will not see" is proved correct, because turning a blind eye to something that is clearly wrong is a motif throughout the story collection.
An example of this is "Victory Lap", which tells the story of a boy who witnesses a classmate being kidnapped, but who wants to turn a blind eye and pretend he didn't witness anything because he mignt get into trouble for putting himself in a position to witness anything.
Another example is the women in "Puppy". Both Callie and Maria only see what they want to; Callie's husband sells pets to families but kills the animals that don't sell. Callie knows that this is an inexcusable thing to do but does not want to upset her husband so remains silent. She tries to sell a puppy to her neighbor Maria, who at first wants to purchase him for her kids, However when she catches sight of Callie's son chained to a tree to keep him from wandering out of the yard, she decides to pull out of the sale, so that she doesn't have to have any further interaction with her neighbor. She knows that she should get involved and protect her neighbor's son, but she chooses not to, pretending that she didn't see him, and continuing to "un-see" as she withdraws from any further interaction with Callie.
