David and Goliath
The biblical story of David and Goliath is a symbol of the ambiguous and contradictory nature of religious morality. As Ellie struggles with the morality of having killed in the face of self-preservation, she is reminded that God only commanded “Thou shall not kill” to his scribe, Moses. From that point forward, the Bible is filled with justifiable killings of which David slaying Goliath is one of the most iconic.
Dolls
Playing with dolls becomes a symbol of the conflicting emotion that arrive with the recognition of childhood innocence that can never be resurrected. Chapter Nine begins with Ellie reminiscing about how she and Corrie used to spend hours playing with their dolls when they were younger. Without marking it as significant, the day arrived when they stopped playing. It was only when, a few months later, she brought her dolls out and tried playing with them in the same way—only to realize she could not recapture the magic—that she is hit with the shock of recognition that a part of her is gone forever.
Dragonfly
A dragonfly becomes a symbol of the intellectual complexity which humans have appended to natural instinct. She watches the dragonfly consume a mosquito while it still lives, unconcerned that its food is likely suffering tortuous fear and pain. It is nature in action, decoupled from any morality. The killing of the mosquito has no ethical dimension for the dragonfly, it is simply instinctual behavior.
The Hermit
The Hermit also becomes a symbol of both human complexity and the ambiguity of morality. The Hermit is a local legend who was said to have murdered his wife and child and gone to live in the campground, ostracized from society as a figure of evil. known as Hell. While camping, evidence is uncovered from his lair that puts a different spin on the story, suggesting his act of “evil” was actually a desperate act of loving mercy. These two opposing perceptions of the same events also symbolize how human behavior is often determined by the judgment of others toward that behavior rather than the actual motivating genesis of that behavior.
Hell
Hell symbolizes the power of words. Hell is the remote camping spot where the teenagers originally go just to have a good time from the boring predictability of the town’s annual celebratory event. It is difficult to reach, beautiful to contemplate, home to the legend of the evil Hermit, and the last place that any of them know peace before the mysterious war breaks out. Hell is then, essentially, everything that the many mythical descriptions of the Underworld where sins are punished eternally are not. Ellie finally arrives at the conclusion that Hell is not a place at all; it is merely a symbolic name that people give to their preconceived notions about what the name represents.
