Sleeping in the Living Room (Symbol)
Early in the novel, Castle comments on how he and his mother have been sleeping in the living room instead of their bedrooms for the three years since his father tried to shoot them. This tendency not to use their own rooms is a symbol of the trauma Castle and his mother endure as a consequence of Castle's father's violent behavior. Castle comments that he has "this thing about being as close to the door as possible, just in case we have to get up and run again. Plus, now that I’ve gotten older, I just want to make sure I’m near her in case I gotta protect her." In this passage, Castle reveals that he continues to grapple with the memory of his father's violence, so much so that he feels safer if he is close to the door that he and his mother escaped through that fateful night.
World Records (Motif)
In the opening pages of Ghost, Castle discusses his love of learning about obscure world records from the Guinness Book of World Records. Castle believes he may even hold the world record for knowing about the most world records. Reynolds develops the motif as the novel progresses, having Castle flip through his record books in the evenings while his mother watches romance films. Influenced by the books, Castle has the ambition of achieving his own world record one day, though he isn't sure what his talent will be—aside from knowing about world records and eating the most sunflower seeds. Castle's ambition is captured in his desire to get a tattoo that says World's Greatest. With his growing ambition as an athlete, it is possible that Castle is on course to break a world record as a sprinter.
Lack of Running Attire (Symbol)
The fact that Castle lacks appropriate athletic shoes and clothing is a symbol of his poverty. Although Castle runs his first sprint against Lu wearing jeans and everyday high-top sneakers, he soon learns that not having proper running shoes is limiting his performance. While other members of the track team are outfitted in slick gear, Castle knows his mother's money is already stretched thin, so he doesn't ask her to buy him anything. Castle tries to remedy the situation by cutting the tops of his leather sneakers, but while they make his shoes lighter, Castle's mangled shoes cause laughter at school. Acting on impulse, Castle steals a pair of silver runners from Everything Sports and finds that his performance improves. However, the fact the shoes are stolen compromises Castle's place on the team.
Gold Medal Tattoo (Symbol)
The gold medal tattoo on Coach Brody's chest is a symbol of his dysfunctional origins. While Castle knows that his coach once competed in the Olympics and won a medal, it isn't until Castle glimpses Coach Brody's tattoo that Castle learns the full truth of the man's history. Coach Brody reveals to Castle that he had to tattoo his medal on his skin because his heroin-addicted father sold the actual medal for twenty dollars. Brody's father then overdosed and died on the twenty-dollar dose of heroin the medal bought him. With this intimate revelation, Castle learns that Coach Brody comes from circumstances similar to Castle's. This demonstrates to Castle that he can overcome the adversity of his father's dysfunction and become a great athlete.
Running From Problems (Motif)
Throughout the novel, Reynolds builds on the motif of metaphorically running from one's problems. Castle considers his genesis as a sprinter to be the night he and his mother had to run from Castle's alcoholic father as he shot a gun at them. This instance of Castle literally running from the "problem" that was his violent father translates to the way Castle evades addressing uncomfortable emotions and his misbehavior. Coach Brody accurately assesses this tendency of Castle's, explaining to Castle that he can't outrun himself—i.e. there is no escaping one's problems. However, the coach later builds on the statement, telling Castle that "you can’t run away from who you are, but what you can do is run toward who you want to be." With the resolution of this motif, Coach Brody modifies the turn of phrase to give Castle faith that the discipline of literal running can help him address his issues and develop into the person he wants to be.
