Jonas and Angela's Apartment

Jonas and Angela's one-bedroom basement apartment symbolizes their emotional relationship. The cramped interior space represents the couple's seemingly unnavigable interpersonal dynamic. The more their communication breaks down, the tighter the dimensions of the apartment feel to both Jonas and Angela. The author uses their living space to indicate the characters' unspoken interior sentiments.

The Academy

The academy where Jonas teaches English symbolizes intellectual engagement with the world. When Jonas begins his part time job there, he feels himself finally a member of society. His attention to and interaction with his life in and out of the school heightens, the academy allowing him to imagine new possibilities for himself. Whenever he is in the academy, Jonas's sense of himself and his life changes, the space seeming to open his mind.

Autumn

Autumn symbolizes the transition between new and old, the opportunity for life beyond...