Boxes

The boxes are symbolic of disruption. When the boxes arrive on the characters' doorsteps at the beginning of the novel, their world as they have known it fractures. The boxes introduce mystery, confusion, and disorder into each of the characters' lives, and thus force them to reconsider the ways in which they have regarded themselves, their relationships, and their futures.

Strings

The strings inside the boxes symbolize fate. Each individual who receives a box, receives a string measuring the length of their remaining life. The strings therefore dictate how the characters see their futures. The short-stringers realize that they do not have the broad expanse of time to create the lives they once dreamed of. The long-stringers realize they will be growing old in a world often absent of their short-stringed loved ones.

Letters

The letters that Amie and Ben write to one another symbolize intimacy...