The Grey Steel Door

The grey steel door on one end of the corridor on which Melanie’s cell is located represents the limit of Melanie’s world as she knows it. Everything outside that door is unknown. Melanie is taken out of the corridor through that door when she is transported to Dr. Caldwell’s lab.

Melanie’s Chair

Melanie and the other children were transported to class and the showers using these high-backed metal wheelchairs. The students were taught to sit in the chairs before the sergeant or his people entered their cells so that they could be safely strapped in so they couldn’t injure anyone. The chair is a symbol of Melanie’s mobility. She knows that when the sergeant leaves Dr. Caldwell’s lab and takes her chair with him that it is not intended for her to leave the operating table...