Mirror-touch synesthesia

Inti’s mirror-touch synesthesia symbolizes empathy. Whenever Inti sees someone else, she can feel the physical sensations that they feel. For example, if someone is struck, Inti feels the strike on her own body. The novel parallels these dynamics with concepts of emotional empathy, which is when one person feels and understands the feelings or perspective of another person.

Wolves

In the novel, wolves symbolize the frequent unknowability both of nature and of humanity. While Inti maintains that wolves are generally harmless creatures with trackable patterns and behaviors, she also acknowledges that they can be mysterious as humans. For example, at the end of the novel, the wolves surprisingly gather to protect Inti and her baby from the cold.

Father

Inti and Aggie’s father symbolizes the effects of personal isolation. After Inti and Aggie’s parents divorced, their father lived alone in the woods...