Photograph

The photograph that Eddy finds of Monique is symbolic of youth. When he first sees the photo, Eddy is unsure how to respond. His mother looks so happy and full of life in the image, that Eddy loses the language to describe it. The photo evidences Monique's life prior to her most entrapping circumstances, and ultimately offers Eddy a narrative and temporal gateway into her past and her character.

Village

The village where Eddy grows up is symbolic of entrapment. The village is the primary setting for the novel. Over the course of the narrative, it gains symbolic significance as the limiting realm to which Eddy and his family have been consigned because of their poverty. Once Eddy and Monique leave the village, they are symbolically freeing themselves of their entrapping circumstances.

Paris

Paris is symbolic of transformation and renewal. After Eddy's mother leaves her second...