Keys

Keys are both literal and figurative symbols of hope. At one point keys are used as a symbol for books. Helen gives Ivy the key to her house in case Ivy has an emergency and needs a place to go. The offer is intended to make Ivy understand that she can hope for a better life if she ever tires of the way her parents treat her.

In the same way, Sarah gives Mia a key to the library so Mia can have a way to contact Sarah if she ever has an emergency. Sarah wants Mia to know that there is hope for a better life and that she has a support system outside the Community if she ever needs it.

At one point, Mia describes a library as: “the place where there were a thousand keys to a thousand doors” (225). In this quote, the...