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Martin Luther King at Zion Hill record

This object symbolizes the risk that is often associated with taking a stand for justice. The second line of the novel announces that though Elwood considers this object to be "the best gift of his life," ultimately it will be the ideas he gleans from this object that will serve as "his undoing" (9). At the very end of the novel, the reader finds out that this "undoing" (9) of Elwood ultimately proves to be fatal.

Police Siren

This object symbolizes the systematic oppression of people of color. When young Elwood is heading to his first day of taking college classes while still enrolled in high school, a young black man pulls over in a Packard, offering to give Elwood a ride. It is Elwood's fateful decision to accept a ride from a stranger that will lead first to the sound of this...

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