House Fires

The deadly house fires that ravage the community, killing the families of the students murdered in the school shooting, represent grief. They are metaphoric for the way that grief can destroy people with its overwhelming potency. The fires consume the houses and the families of those who are most consumed by grief. That they remain unexplainable throughout the novel further illustrates how grief is a confusing, powerful emotion that defies a universal reaction.

Alcohol

Alcohol is used throughout the novel to symbolize normal teenage life. It is when alcohol is absent in moments when any of the four juniors on the yearbook staff would typically drink that a break from their everyday lives is signified. Christina, in particular, shows that alcohol correlates to normalcy. She stops drinking the first time her boyfriend treats her so poorly that she considers ending her relationship. That she drinks...