The Badge (Symbol)
The badge is symbolically used by the narrator as a sign of honor. When the narrator interacts with Jonny Rogerson, he realizes that he has pinned a badge on his chest. When Jonny looks at the narrator in police uniform, he wanders why babies are put in men’s boots implying that he is too young to serve in a complicated environment. The narrator learns from Jonny that it will take him years of experience to pin a badge on his chest. Jonny tells the narrator, “You better be fully grown before you pin a badge on your chest. Nobody’s gonna hold your hand out there, boy.”
Goddamned Money
The author uses money in his story to emblematically represent success. Most of the cops working in the police department think that they have wasted their years because their job does not pay good money. The narrator is new in this job as an intern and he has great dreams of becoming a cop. Jonny thinks that the narrator needs career guidance because he is making a bad choice since cops do not get good money. For instance, one of the cops advises the narrator, "Go someplace where you can make goddamned money!” However, the narrator sticks to his choice of being a cop because he considers it a calling because he wants to serve his people. Therefore, the narrator values success based on what he has to offer but not what he receives as salary.
Cop (Symbol)
The narrator uses the term ‘cop’ figuratively to refer to determination and resilience. As the reader realizes, being a cop is not an easy task because there are many challenges that one has to cope with. One of the challenges is low salaries. The initial years of his service, the narrator is discouraged by other senior cops from becoming a policeman. The main reason why other cops are urging the narrator to seek an alternative career is because of the low wages associated with the police department. Besides the low wages, one of the officers tells the narrator that being a cop is sucking because of the many challenges that they go through daily. However, the narrator succeeds in his job as a cop because to him it is a calling. The narrator says that he knew what he wanted from childhood and that is why he was determined to be a cop. The narrator says, “I believed I was one of the lucky ones because I’d known what UI wanted to do with my life while still in high school; becoming a cop was my sole aim.”
The Symbol Sunrise
Jonny tells the narrator never to miss the sunrise. Sunrise is figuratively used by the author to represent God's blessings. Jonny says, "Never miss a sunrise. A sunrise is God’s way of saying ‘praise be to Jesus, you lucky sonovabitch, you get to live another day.” The symbol shows that Jonny appreciates the presence of God and his blessings. Being alive is a blessing and gift from God because there are other people who go to bed but never to see the following day.
The symbol of the retirement calendar.
During his last days, Jonny was fond of looking at his calendar to count the number of days that remained for him to exit the police service. He was so passionate about marking the days as the elapsed and the X mark represented the missed days. The calendar is emblematically used by the narrator to represent the emptiness of the narrator’s heart because his close ally and friend is leaving soon. The narrator knows that he is a cadet courtesy of Jonny and his existence in the police force largely relies on the input Jonny. For instance, the narrator hopes that the status list could be revised and updated before Jonny retires. Jonny tells the narrator, “It is too bad that stupid list expires before I go. There is nobody I’d rather see take my spot than you. You are going to make a good cop someday.” Therefore, the retirement calendar reminds the narrator that his chances of succeeding are minimal if Jonny leaves the department.
