Water

Water symbolizes harmony with one's surroundings. It appears many times in the novel, each time evoking a slightly different response in the narrator as she herself develops and begins to challenge her own preconceptions about solitude. For example, the narrator sees light that "makes me think of the sea" (30) when she looks with admiration at a woman who "manages to fully inhabit and possess this room" (31). The woman's confidence and comfort with her surroundings are things that the narrator desires and simultaneously associates with water.

Light

Light symbolizes the desire for belonging and the effort required to participate in a community. Light and water often interplay in the novel, such as at the beach when the waves keep the narrator from entering the ocean. Unable to immerse herself in the harmony with her surroundings that water represents, she seeks a reprieve from the light in the...