Bread

Bread symbolizes survival in the memoir because of its function as the most basic nourishment for humans. Several vignettes are devoted to the simple but comforting description of how often "the world is full of crusty bread" due to "every other person on the street [swinging] a long baguette" (16). She also notes that the "smell of baking bread feels like a welcome" (28). Additionally, bread symbolizes value in the memoir. For example, there is much religious imagery, specifically the descriptions of the family attending mass. "In Church with Scrooge" opens with an account of the parish receiving communion--in which the bread of the Holy Communion represents the body of Christ. Moreover, bread crumbs are presented as valuable in pointing the way home as early as "The Eiffel Tower" chapter, as James notes that, while walking home "at dusk, and everyone [she] passed was munching a baguette...as...