Colors

Colors represent the vibrancy of Leigh’s life. Everywhere she goes, she sees different hues of colors compared to other people. She sees them in the world around her. She imagines them in the words people say or the actions they make. She even sees them in her memories, and the tone of the colors show her what time period she is in. Leigh's life is driven by the colors she sees. At the end of the novel, she recognizes how important these colors are in capturing life events and emotion, using them for the first time in her art pieces she sends to Berlin.

The Bird

The bird represents Leigh’s regrets at losing her mother. Throughout the novel, Leigh believes that her mother became the bird. And while this is never fully confirmed or denied, Leigh has many nightmares of her mother as the...