Cecilia’s diary (Symbol)
Throughout the whole novel, neighborhood boys mention Cecilia’s diary. She is the first girl, who commits suicide in the Lisbon family. This diary has a lock and it seems Cecilia hides something important here. When boys revise it, they do not find any hint at Cecilia’s death. She writes down her thoughts about her life and draws various pictures. The diary tells about what it means to be a girl and nothing about her suicide, and symbolizes Cecilia’s solitude and gradual estrangement from her sisters and parents.
Lux’s lantern (Symbol)
The Lisbon girls are bored to death, when their parents lock them in the room. They do not know what to do, but their neighborhood boys do everything to find the way to communicate with the girls. One day, Lux’s Chinese lantern begins to blink Morse code. Every night the lantern flicks on and its abat-jour projects shadows on the wall. The lantern sends three short, two long, two long, three short signals. Lux’s lantern is a symbol of deliverance with loneliness, which makes their life grey and tedious.
Suicide, death (Motif)
The problem of suicide is very popular and relevant among children and teenagers, especially in this novel. Many teens commit suicides without thinking about parents’ pain and suffering. The significant reason of self-murder is a lack of parental love and support. The main characters, five girls of the Lisbon family, do not receive enough parents’ attention and permission. The first love, alcohol and cigarettes, dreams and journeys appear in time, when the girls desire to cognize the world. However, parents try to take away all moments of the first disappointment and gladness. The motif of death and suicide evolves here due to the insufficient intake of emotions, which could have been the vital lesson for the girls.
