A rifle (symbol)
A rifle is a symbol of violence. Tyrell cleans his rifle, thinking about the ways he could avenge his father’s death. He is “nerved-up and impatient doing the same thing over and over like somebody had hypnotized him.” He is “nasty-minded” and the rifle in his hands signalizes danger. “The long blue-steel barrel of the rifle raised vertically” when Tyrell shares his idea of killing the Barndollars with his sister. “Those fuckers are alive and Dad is dead,” he says. What Tyrell doesn’t understand is that he doesn’t have any right to take away somebody else’s life just because he feels like it.
A river (allegory)
A river is allegory of changeability. “Wide, and glittery like fish scales, always choppy like a living thing restless beneath its skin,” the river always finds a way to get into Lili Rose’s dreams. Its swift streams are allegory of changes that couldn’t be stopped. She has been living under impression that every member of her family hates her, that it is all her fault, that she is the one responsible that things went so horribly wrong until she realizes that it is not like that. She looks at the river that looks the same but feels differently, she is ready to change too.
Happiness (motif)
Happiness is the main goal. What do we live for? What do we crave for? What do we dream about? The answer is always the same and it is genuine happiness. It could be found in little things such tasty breakfasts with friends on Saturdays, journeys, new books, a family, a career, or whatnot. It is extremely important to find “only true reliable happiness” to be able to live a content life. Of course, life is not a candy and there are a lot of bitter moment in it, but “happiness is a region in which we can dwell, if only for brief periods of time.”
