Symbol for freedom
In the first chapter, when Rosemary goes with her bike to the cafeteria, she sees a large flock of wild gees flying over her head. The gees are an important elements because they are a symbol for freedom and for the way Rosemary wanted to feel.
Rejecting her mother’s legacy
When Rosemary goes home for Thanksgiving, her mother gives her daughter her old journals. The journals are important because they symbolize Rosemary’s mother’s legacy. By rejecting the journals and by refusing to read them, Rosemary rejects her parents’ influence on her life and their attempts to control her.
Symbol for a new beginning
After Fern disappears, the family moves to a new home, one with only three bedrooms instead of four. The house has a big importance for the characters in the novel because it symbolizes a new beginning. Also the fact that the family moved during the time Fern disappeared points towards the idea that something happened because of Fern.
Falling asleep
A motif found in the novel is the idea that Rosemary used to fall asleep whenever something was bothering her. Instead of talking about the things that were not right, she would just go to bed and hope that the things will sort themselves in time. This method of avoiding survived until Rosemary’s adulthood but under other form, namely her decisions to remain silent when things became uncomfortable.
Symbol for familiarity
When Rosemary woke up into an unfamiliar room, she was scared until she noticed the quilt with which she was covered with. The quilt here symbolizes familiarity and the idea of home. Because of this, Rosemary was not alarmed to wake in an unfamiliar room because she knew that as long as she was covered by the quilt, she was at home.
