Dentures

In "A Light, Swift, and Monstrous Sound," Menéndez's dentures are symbolic of identity. When the dentures fall down onto the narrator's patio, they crack in half. Because the narrator is a dentist, the broken dentures are symbolic of the narrator's loss of self. Indeed, her neighbor's suicide metaphorically cracks her in half. The suicide divides her life into two parts, a before and an after, and thus forces her to reconsider who she has been and who she wants to be.

Roberto

In the short story "Roberto," the narrator's rabbit Roberto is symbolic of innocence. The rabbit is literally referencing the genital and pubic region of the narrator's body. However, by anthropomorphizing the narrator's private parts in this manner the author is able to underscore her innocence. Ultimately, Roberto ends up saving the narrator as he lurches out at Mr. García.

Posters

In "Candy...