Books

Books are a symbol of friendship and community. Patricia and her friends use books to come together during their most difficult moments.

Vacuum

The vacuum is a symbol of housewife power. The housewives use their vacuums to clean up their houses on a daily basis, but when they decide to fight James they use their vacuums to hide evidence and avoid detection so that they can plot behind his back to murder him.

Prozac

Prozac is a symbol of control. Carter gives Patricia a bottle of Prozac and tells her that she needs to take it if she wants to keep her family.

Peach Tree

The peach tree is a symbol of the illusion of perfection and goodness in the South. A Black boy is buried alive in Miss Mary's childhood yard beneath a peach tree. The tree produces sweet peaches, but beneath there is a...