The father’s truck (Symbol)
In the story the image of truck, which Leigh’s dad drives serves the role of symbol as well. The little boy liked to drive with his father on this truck, and it was good memories from his early childhood. But, from the other side, dad loved his car so much that he spent all his time driving, and mother never knew where he was. For Leigh the truck was a reason of their divorce, the symbol of his father, free, always missing man, who hardly cares about his little son: “The truck is why my parents got divorced”.
Boy’s diary (Symbol)
As a rule, writing diaries is a somewhat reclusive activity, especially in childhood. There they write their secrets and something that is important for them. Diary plays the role of a secret friend who will never betray. But in case with Leigh, the diary is an instrument for improving his writing skills. He wants to be a writer, and his friend, the author, advised him to start writing a diary because it will help him to hone his manner of writing. So, the diary in the story is a symbol of growing up and propelling boy’s dream.
Mobile house (Allegory)
Mobile home is the place where the Botts family used to live before the divorce. It was tiny and Leigh’s mother hated it. She was happy to move to the small room they lived in, because the mobile home was like a prison for her and she has always dreamed that one day she will move out. To spent the rest of her life in mobile house was one of the biggest fears of his mother.
Father’s love (Motif)
The little boy always wondered, if his father really loved him, if he did, why then he left them, why he and mother had divorced. Leigh doubt in father’s love, especially when the old didn’t fulfill promises and wasn’t interested in his achievements and problems. This motif goes through the story and turns into one of the main themes because as a rule the relationship between father and son are much cooler than with mother and this book serves an evidence of that.
Childhood (Motif)
Childhood is a careless time, but is it? As we can see from this story, it is far away from truth. The little boy has his problems, he is lonely (in some aspect), he even feels guilty that his parents divorced and thinks that it was his fault. The author wanted to show that children have almost as much problems as grown ups have. They also may feel miserable and lonely, and they just need love and care to be happy.
