In the story “Nemecia,” the titular character’s porcelain doll symbolizes her abusive childhood and the troubled familial relationships that this trauma has produced. Emphasizing the theme of Fraught Family Bonds that runs through the collection, the image of the doll also illustrates the author’s focus on the ways in which dysfunctional dynamics harm families. Nemecia’s doll, a gift from her mother, ends up broken because Nemecia herself smashes it. That Nemecia would break the sole material remembrance she has of her mother reveals the deeply unresolved emotions that she holds about her tumultuous childhood, for she witnessed her abusive father’s brutal murder of her grandfather and his beating of her mother. Thus, Nemecia breaks her doll to express an anger that she does not yet have the emotional tools to decipher. Her broken doll thus symbolizes her abusive past and her inability to cope with it.

The trailer park in “Mojave Rats” symbolizes Monica’s complex feelings about her class position and her desire to escape her underprivileged childhood. Many of the characters in this collection struggle with The Effects of Class on the Coming-of-Age Journey, and Monica also believes that she can elevate her social standing through gaining education or marrying an educated person.