Wild roseflower
On the day of Tony’s visit to Mami asking for help for the task Rudy gave him, he and Ti-Jeanne reignite their old passion as well. They go out to seek out wood for crutches for an injured kid that was brought to Mami, and on their way, Tony starts flirting with Ti-Jeanne. He even picks her a flower from a wild rosebush. The symbolism of this flower is explained on the spot – its prickly thorns represent every gift Tony ever gave to her. It symbolizes their love story and her always getting hurt by it. This flower is also significant because when the Prince of Cemetery comes to their aid, riding Ti-Jeanne’s body, he tells them that she must wear that flower to help Tony escape through the Guinea Land – the shadow world invisible to regular humans.
The center pole
The center is an important aspect of the spiritual world. When Mami goes through the ritual to contact the spirits, she calls them at the center pole of the church. The same thing happens at the end, when T-Jeanne as a duppy, flies above the CN Tower and realizes it is the highest tower in Toronto, representing its center, and she uses it to call forth the spirits to destroy Rudy.
The heart
The main plot point of the novel is the search for a heart for a transplant for politician candidate Uttley. Aside from the predominantly fantastical aspect, the aspect of societal criticism and discussion about the corruption within is being discussed in the novel. The main issue is that the human organ donations are illegal, and the organs of pigs are used instead. Uttley’s advisor wants her to make a stand by doing something shocking and contradictory as having a human heart transplant and getting voters on her side. The heart has to, naturally, be obtained illegally and, at the end, Mami’s heart is the one which is used for this. In the end, it is shown that Mami’s heart is slowly taking over Uttley’s mind and decisions.
