Music

Music plays a significant role in this novel, and it comes to symbolize a prompting of memories. Jenny and Ann are the two most significant characters when it comes to how music affects them. However, music is a neutral symbol, morphing from either positive or negative depending on the person's perspective. Jenny, for example, has happy memories associated with listening to May play piano in her family home. Because Jenny no longer has a happy family with a piano, listening to piano music is painful for her. This music forces Jenny to remember a time when she heard a piano playing in her life, which is why it is so painful for her to listen to it in prison. Elizabeth notes that, “The piano hurt Jenny because of its connection to some beautiful memory of someone she loved, someone who played the piano for her in...