Hyacinth

Hyacinth appears early in the novel. In mythology, Apollo created the flower from the blood of a man he loved who died violently and so it serves to foreshadow Murph's death. Ironically, Apollo is the god of truth in Greek mythology, yet lies surround Murph's last moments – how he died, his body's condition and his body's final fate.

Snow

A portent of death, snow appears often in the novel, usually in reference to Murph. His mother reads the letter Bartle wrote in Murph's name while it's snowing. There is snow the day Bartle and Murph first meet. It's snowing the night Murph's parents receive news of his death and it's snowing the day Captain Anderson comes to arrest Bartle and tells Bartle about Sterling's suicide.

Stars

In times of distress, Bartle stares into the night sky, contemplating the stars. Infinite and incomprehensible, they represent how lost...