Importance of Scarecrow

The scarecrow in “The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis” symbolizes regret and remorse. The scarecrow is a doll-like figure that is found lashed to a tree in Anthem, New Jersey’s Friendship Park. The scarecrow resembles Eric Mutis, the kid that Larry and his friends bullied years before. Larry worries that they are somehow responsible for the Eric scarecrow, socking all the life out of him through their cruelty and turning him into a shell of his former self. As a result, Larry decides to protect the scarecrow through the night against wild animals and to give it a proper burial as a question of respect and redemption.