Royal Jewels
The royal jewels owned by the Romanov family in the book and later Misha are an important symbol. Throughout the book, these jewels represented the past or the past status quo. The Romanov family had these jewels because they were the wealthy monarchs and had control over Russia's resources. Once they were put in captivity, it was one of the few assets they had with them. The Tsar and his family sewed the royal jewels into their clothing for security and financial support, bringing back the idea of what they formerly had. These jewels are used by Misha to start his new life in America, the same jewels that represented his past and what he had to go through.
Impatiev House
The Impatiev House, adeptly known as the House of Special Purposes, was a powerful symbol in the novel. This house was the main setting for the majority of the book. In the house, the five Romanov children ran about and played while the Tsar and his wife watched over. It might have seemed like a normal house but it was really just a prison in disguise. The windows had bars over them and were painted over, in addition to a barricade surrounding the place, lined with grim-faced soldiers. The Impatiev Houses represented the change that was occurring in the nation and the hardships the last Russian kings would have to suffer through before their eventual demise. It acted as a symbol for the power and the success of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Family Dog
A pleasantly surprising motif that recurs throughout the chapters of The Kitchen Boy is the family dog, the one the Romanov children play with in the house where they are kept. This dog has been with them for awhile and is a sentimental piece of their past lives, living as royals and heads of state. Now, their dog acts as a way for them to return to normalcy and try to disguise the fear and terror pervading the air. By repeatedly emphasizing the presence of the family dog in the book, the author creates a motif that stands for the hope for normalcy.
Kitchen Boy
Although it may not seem like it at first glance, the kitchen boy Leonid acts as an allegory. Usually, allegories are stories, poems, or pictures but in this instance it is a full character. He does play many other distinct and vital roles to progress the plot of the book but one of the things Leonid does is to reveal a moral and political meaning. The only reason the kitchen boy is even in the story is because the Tsar and his family continue to act like the pretentious royals that made them despised and was part of the spark that led to the flames of revolution. An example of this can be directly seen in the book when the Tsar requests milk. He won't even open the milk bottle himself and forces Leonid to do it for him. The stubborn and snobbish qualities of the monarch is revealed through the allegory of the kitchen boy and explain why the events that led to their demise took place.
Secret Notes
In the book, the central part of the story is the Tsar exchanging secret messages through notes given to Leonid, who goes on to give them to the Nuns, who themselves give it to the loyal supporters of the Tsar, where it ends up coming back along that chain to the Tsar. The Tsar and his family are hoping for rescue and by using the secret notes as the action behind a potential rescue, the author Robert Zimmerman uses these notes as a symbol for hope. These secret notes are all the Tsar can do in the Impatiev House where he is trapped and surrounded by Bolshevik soldiers. The notes are his only hope of ever escaping with his family and trying to take back the country he once ruled.
