The Wooden Leg
The wooden leg of Henry’s father is literally a sign of the incompleteness of the man. It is passed on to Henry where it will be used as a weapon. That both share this artificial replacement limb and gain use situates it as a symbol of the incomplete existence and the quest something to replace the missing parts.
The Coat
The coat is overwhelmed with the smell of the blood of victims. At one point he identifies the coat as a proof of his own existence. It is a covering used by his father to protect Henry. Taken together, the coat becomes symbolic of Henry’s ambivalent emotions about his father.
The Star
Henry looks up to stars and recalls his mother looking skyward and pointing to a star and calling it her “little Henry.” Henry’s longing to become that star is also representative of a life unfulfilled. The star is a constantly present reminder of Henry’s lack of significance and seeming doom to being a supporting player rather than the star of his own life.
The Smell of Water
Both Henry and the father are blessed with a strange gift for being able to smell water. Since water is elemental for survivor, this gift is symbolic of Henry’s ability to survive against the odds on one level and of Ireland’s struggle to survive on a larger level.
Darkness
Darkness in fiction is omnipresent as a metaphor conveying the larger aspect of the unknown, that which is feared, the encroaching abyss of the mysteries of death. In this novel, however, the meaning is winnowed down so that darkness become a very specific symbol (that will be familiar to fans of the film The Dark Knight Rise): “the darkness of night is our greatest ally.”
