Wolves

Wolves represent the pull Ben feels towards his self-proclaimed mission of finding out who his father is. Since Elaine's death, Ben has had a recurring dream where wolves chase him, but he eventually realizes the wolves were not chasing him, " They’d been guiding him, leading him onward, through the snow, to his father” (577-578). The wolf diorama at the museum is how Ben's mother and father met and his museum box of engraved with a wolf. The wolves presence in Ben's life is what inspires him to find out more about his mother and his father.

Museum box

Ben's museum box symbolizes Ben's memory of his mother. Ben has collected things for his box for years and only shared them with his mother. He has developed an attachment to the box due to each item being tied to a specific memory of his mother. Ben...