What do phones represent to Beauty and Robin in the novel, Hum If You Don’t Know the Words?

Throughout the novel, phones have significant connotations, both positive and negative. For Beauty, phone calls represent both hope and dread as she never knows what the content of the call will be. Will someone be calling with information leading to Nomsa, or will the information be that Nomsa is dead? This duality gives the phone in Edith’s apartment an intense weight. For Robin, the phone ringing symbolizes the possibility of being taken away from Edith. Before Wilhelmina becomes entwined in their lives as a friend, she is a threatening figure that destabilizes Robin’s new home situation. When the phone rings, Robin worries it may be Wilhelmina trying to make contact.