Almanac (Symbol)
The almanac symbolizes routine, normalcy, and predictability. As a genre, almanacs contain information about cyclical events—seasons, planting of crops, and the movements of the celestial bodies. The grandmother reads the almanac to the child as part of her attempt to create a feeling of safety and normalcy, using a book that describes predictable events to reinforce a feeling of safe predictability. At the same time, the movements of the celestial bodies, as described in an almanac, are often associated with fate. Combined with the personification of the almanac, in which the book announces "I know what I know," this symbol of routine gains a second, quieter meaning: symbolizing inevitability and humans' lack of control over their lives.
Tears (Symbol)
If the almanac primarily symbolizes the normal routines of everyday life, tears symbolize the hidden trauma and sadness that disrupt those routines. Tears are linked to crying and sadness, and the grandmother hides her tears—and, by extension, her sadness—while she reads to the child. Yet these tears and the sadness they symbolize emerge in other ways, as if refusing to be kept at a distance. They manifest as raindrops, as falling droplets from the kettle, and as ambiguous objects in the child's drawing. Through this symbol, we are made to understand that the grandmother and grandchild's familial trauma can be repressed, disguised, and put aside, but that it continues to make itself known.
