What is the symbolism of the cello in the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo?

The cello is played beautifully by Galloway’s titular character, who remains unnamed throughout the novel. Arrow sees it before Dragan and before Kenan, noting immediately how its wood “glows rich and warm against the drab gray of shattered paving stones…she feels an urge to touch it, to run her fingers over the lacquered surface” (61). For Arrow, the cello symbolizes the warmth of hope, a key out of the bleak and depressing world of Sarajevo and into a place of joy. Life, she believes when listening to its music, is more than a game of who will be killed and who will survive. Even its coloring suggests an otherworldliness, which Galloway no doubt intends his readers to note. The cello symbolizes a world beyond the world, a place where she can be more than Arrow, a mere weapon in a game of chess against civilians and assassins.