The Rainstorm

Fuller employs the rainstorm to intensify Gil’s panic as he pursues Ingrid in the Prologue. Fuller’s use of weather to enforce Gil’s mood is called pathetic fallacy. The rainstorm increases Gil’s feelings of confusion because it prevents him from properly seeing Ingrid. The gusting wind and pounding rain help convey Gil’s desperation, which culminates in his fall over the promenade railing.

The Paper Daffodil

The paper daffodil Ingrid gifts Gil in Chapter 2 symbolizes the dichotomy between truth and fiction. In their first class together, Gil prompts his students to reveal one of their darkest, most private truths, using the paper daffodil as the focus of a fictional story about his mother’s death. Ingrid finds Gil’s story so convincing that she nearly believes it herself. In her final letter to Gil, Ingrid mentions the paper daffodil, comparing the dark...