Motif: Gray
Before the war started, Dragan remembers, the city was colorful and bright. The park was green, and trees and plants flourished, full of different colors and hues. Buildings were bright and lived-in, painted thoughtfully in different shades, brightened by their inhabitants and the colors of the decor each had selected. People themselves dressed colorfully, not afraid to stand out, enjoying wearing a new coat or pair of shoes. Now everything is grey and he is not sure if this is because the war has turned it so or because the color grey is the only color left. To Dragan, the color gray is associated with war, of the loss of vibrancy and life and the way in which the war has made every day the same as the one before.
Symbol: The Library
When the men on the hills target the library, they know exactly what they are doing—they are attacking a symbol of civilization, of learning, of progress. They are making it clear that they respect nothing and will do anything to accomplish their goal of bringing Sarajevo to its knees. This is why Kenan is so disturbed every time he passes the library—because its empty shell is a reminder of the magnitude of what was lost.
Symbol: The Eternal Flame
Arrow follows Nermin into the streets to see the cellist, and along the way notices that the WWII memorial's eternal flame has gone out. The flame was intended to remind the city of what happened in the war, and to hopefully preclude any such tragedy from ever happening again. Its extinguishing is a symbol of how those lessons were not learned, a sentiment echoed when the man who survived the concentration camp killed himself rather than trying to survive the siege.
Motif: Crossings
Both Dragan and Kenan are journeying throughout the city to get to a particular destination, and both of them have perilous crossings of intersections and bridges. These crossings are important because they are way-stations where both men have to test themselves and their mettle—will Kenan abandon Mrs. Ristovski's bottles, or crumple under the frustration and terror of crossing the bridge? Will Dragan help someone who is shot in the intersection, and how will he choose to cross—will he run, walk, live, or die?
Symbol: Cello
The cello is a symbol much like the library—it is a symbol of civilization. As such, it provides the citizens who come to hear the cellist's music with a reminder of what things used to be like and what they might be again in the future, of the sustaining nature of art, of man's courage in the face of great evil.
