Home Redecorating (Symbol)
The home redecorating Cadence's mother undertakes immediately after her husband leaves her is a symbol of denial. Just before summer fifteen, Cadence's father announces that he no longer wants to try to be a Sinclair and breaks up with Cadence's mother, Penny. In reaction to her abandonment, Penny throws away objects in the house related to her husband and hires someone to redecorate the place. Rather than confront her feelings of grief and abandonment, Penny alters her physical environment, rejuvenating her home interior in a way that denies her husband's existence. With this action, she is better able to push away uncomfortable memories that would risk her losing face or pride.
Clairmont (Symbol)
Clairmont, the oldest house on the family estate, is viewed by the Liars as a symbol of the patriarchal power tearing apart the Sinclair family. Wishing for the aunts' feud to end, the Liars burn the house, believing that its eradication will cleanse the family and bring them together. When the plan fails and Johnny, Mirren, and Gat die in the blaze, Granddad rebuilds Clairmont in a stark, modern style characterized by sheets of glass and blank white walls. With its impersonal aesthetic, New Clairmont's symbolic significance changes. No longer the seat of power in the family, the house is a mausoleum-like monument to the unacknowledged tragedy that struck the family.
Cuddledown (Symbol)
Cuddledown, Aunt Bess's home on Beechwood, is a symbol for supernatural forces. Before Cadence returns to the island for summer seventeen, her young cousin, Taft, phones to ask if Cuddledown is haunted. She doesn't understand the significance of what he is asking, unaware that the other three Liars have died. When she arrives on the island, Cadence spends most of her time with the Liars at Cuddledown, where Bess and the younger cousins no longer sleep. The ghost-like versions of the Liars refuse to go to the New Clairmont, seemingly bound to the shore and to Cuddledown, likely because it is where they preferred to stay when living. This separation means Cadence never sees any of the Liars interact with other members of the family. For this reason, she isn't afraid of the supernatural atmosphere of the house, but rather is happy to spend time with the ghosts who inhabit it.
Giving Away Possessions (Motif)
In the year following her accident, Cadence starts a "project": to give away one of her possessions every day. She doesn't question this compulsive unburdening; she simply finds something to get rid of, and then finds something else. This habit continues throughout the novel until she finally recovers her missing memories and realizes what happened during summer fifteen. The motif is resolved with the narrative commentary that she "displayed a disquieting desire to rid herself of all unnecessary possessions, even things of sentimental value, almost as if doing penance for past crimes." With this information, her need to give things away can be seen as the expression of a subconscious desire to cleanse her spirit of what she has done.
Graph-Paper Memories (Motif)
During summer seventeen, Cadence sets out to recover the memories she lost during her accident two years prior. With each new fragment that comes back to her through conversation with the Liars, Cadence makes sure to write down what she remembers on the graph paper she and the Liars used to draw portraits on. Cadence collects the sheets on the sloped roof above her bed at Windemere, studying them before falling asleep. The use of a written record frees Cadence's traumatized brain from the burden of remembering. By the end of the novel, the motif is resolved when Cadence finally puts the fragments together to see the bigger picture of the tragedy that happened.
