Coyotes
The book is comprised of more than thirty chapters and each one chapter is subtitled either “Predators,” “Moth Love,” or “Chestnuts.” The singular symbol for the predators are the coyotes which Deanna wants to protect and her newly acquired boyfriend wants to poach. Like almost everything in the book, the symbolism here references sexual relationships. Protecting coyotes ensures they will survive and so represents the nurturing maternal side of sexuality whereas poaching the coyotes represents the predatory nature of masculine sexuality.
Moths
The chapters titled “Moth Love” are about an entomologist trying to rebalance her life after a marriage which didn’t quite turn out. Her obsession with moths is symbolically an obsession with communication. Moths communicate their sexual interest and availability through scent because they have no mouths. Moths without mouths who successfully communicate become symbols for humans whose mouths fail to communicate.
Chestnuts
Chestnuts in the book retain the symbolism with which they are usually endowed. Old chestnuts are something which have aged well beyond the rapturous beauty of youth, and while for some that means they have outlived their usefulness, for others it means they are to be treasured for experience and wisdom which can be gained from treating them with respect.
Brocade Chair
The antique green brocade chair shows up in a couple of scenes in the story. The first appearance is in a “Moth Love” chapter, but it next shows up in “Predators.” The connection between Lusa and Deanna is made by the chair and so it becomes a symbol of the larger interconnectedness of not just the characters in the three distinct storylines, but in nature as a whole.
Goats
Lusa is inspired to suggest that raising goats is the answer to working a sustainable farm in Appalachia without resorting to growing the death weed of tobacco. Lusa’s parentage is Jewish-Palestinian and she notes that major holidays in all three Abrahamic religions coincide, thus offering an almost miraculous opportunity for commercial gain by raising goats to serve the feasts. Goats thus once again become a traditional sacrificial symbol on a number of levels.
