War during recces
Holling has the tendency to exaggerate everything that is happening around him and one of the things he does is to portray the playground as a battlefield where he has to fight for his life. Holling portrays here guns, grenades, and tanks, all coming towards him and threatening to kill him. While nothing is threatening his life in actuality, this image is a reference made towards the Vietnam War which was taking place during the time when the novel is set. This image has the purpose to transmit the idea that while life in America continued almost undisturbed, the effects of the war were felt by everyone, even by the children.
The cream puffs
In the second chapter, the school organizes an event for the Wives of Vietnam, or rather for the family members of those who remained home while their men went to fight in the war. Holling is tasked to help carry the cream puffs and is frustrated when he is not allowed to take one for himself. The image of the cream puffs is another one linked with the war and is meant to transmit the idea that while the countless men left to fight in Vietnam, their families received little to no support from their communities and the help they got was largely symbolic.
Flower on her cheek
Holling's sister, Heather, surprises everyone when she appears one day with a flower painted on her cheek. Her family is enranged and her father demands she goes to the bathroom right away to wash the flower off her face. Heather agrees reluctant and then is angry when Holling does not stand up for her. The image of the flower remains vivid in Holling's mind and he remembers it often especially when he begins to come into contact more and more with people involved in the war. The flower becomes a symbol for him of the possibility of living one day in a world where no one is at war.
The mother
Holling loves his mother dearly but she is not presented in a positive image in the novel. From the beginning, Holling describes his mother as a weak person, someone who would never stand up against her husband. The mother remains unnamed for the duration of the novel and she is more than often portrayed as being a piece of furniture and not a living and breathing creature. This image is representative because, during the middle of the 19th century, a woman was expected to be an obedient wife and nothing more. Thus, the image portrayed her is that of the perfect wife, as seen during those times.
