Chores

Chores are symbolic of self-improvement. John loves to do chores. He loves to do chores because they start new days, and they make him think of good things like growing and being rich. John feels that he is accomplishing and producing something important when he is doing chores. Chores also make John feel at home and like everything feels right.

Poetry

Poetry is symbolic of beauty. After World War II, Clay came to appreciate beauty and the quiet after horrible battles. He also came to a better understanding of the Japanese idea of beauty in simple things. From the Japanese, he learned to compose poetry to celebrate that beauty. He passed this on to John.

Rifle

A rifle symbolizes life and death. John uses a rifle to hunt to bring about death to a doe so that the doe’s meat may bring about life for...