• The Road (Symbol)
After witnessing an upsetting indication of abuse at the convent, Furlong misses his turn on the drive home and ends up on a narrow road outside of town. When he stops to ask an old man for directions, the man says, "This road will take you wherever you want to go, son." The road symbolizes the difficult decisions Furlong will have to make regarding what he knows about the women at the convent. Here, Furlong begins to approach the moral crossroads that will dictate the novella's dramatic action. The man's statement implies that Furlong has some agency in this situation.
• Donkey
Donkeys appear in two different contexts in the novella. When the New Ross community members set up a nativity scene in the center of town, they include a donkey "standing guard over two sleeping ewes and the crib." Early Christian theologians believed that the donkey represented the Gentiles, or non-Jewish people. In general, though, biblical associations with the donkey include peace, humility, and servitude. For example, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem to demonstrate his humility. These biblical associations matter in the context of the novella because the donkey appears, after all, in a Nativity scene.
Donkeys appear again in a story that Ned once told Furlong. For some time, Ned had stolen hay from Mrs. Wilson's property to help a man feed his ailing donkey. After a surreal experience one night in which some kind of creature terrifies Ned, he stops stealing Mrs. Wilson's hay. Perhaps this story serves as an example of a moral gray area to Furlong, since Ned stole the hay for a good cause.
• Farm Jigsaw
During one Christmas in Furlong's childhood, he asked to receive "his daddy or else a jigsaw puzzle of a farm in five hundred pieces." Instead, he received a nailbrush, a bar of soap, a hot water bottle, and books. The jigsaw symbolizes Furlong's ideal childhood desires. Although he came to feel grateful for the gifts that he actually received, the jigsaw still remains in his adult consciousness. While looking in a shop in chapter seven, Furlong inquires to see if the shop carries the same jigsaw he wanted as a child. Perhaps he wishes to buy it in order to fulfill his childhood fantasy, but the shop doesn't have it. Instead, Furlong makes do yet again with what is in front of him.