Orchestra
Melody elucidates, “The orchestra’s music lifting through the open windows and out over the block as though it had always belonged to the Brooklyn air.” The orchestra is symbolic of merriness which signifies the family’s exhilaration. Melody’s ripeness is a substantial realization which animates all her family members and supports the idea that the carnival is embodied in the orchestra.
The Dress
Melody elucidates, “The dress, Iris’ dress, unworn in her closet until that moment. Already, when it was time for her ceremony, I was on my way. Already, at nearly sixteen, her belly told a story a celebration never could.” The dress is emblematic of the unqualified intersection between girlhood and motherhood. Iris misses the occasion of wearing the dress on her sixteenth birthday because forthcoming motherhood (which is attributed her unanticipated pregnancy) overtakes her girlhood. Nonetheless, the dress waits for Melody, for sixteen years, who dons it as if it were designed for her.
