With the redemptive power of nature and environmentalism being important themes, animals and other natural objects are imbued with great symbolic value. The book begins with these important lines by Tom: “My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call” (1). These lines signify that while the characters sometimes feel trapped by their rural, parochial upbringing, its natural bounty provides them a sanctuary. The tides and marshes of Colleton form an Edenic garden for the Wingo children where they live in harmony with the moon, the marsh hens, the porpoises, the shrimp, and the rise and fall of waters. Here, Snow, the white porpoise, is a symbol of the purest part of nature and the most innocent, pristine aspect of the childhood of the Wingo children. Snow’s capture symbolizes that the harmony between children and nature is always interrupted by the materialistic, capitalistic forces of the outside world. On the other hand, Snow’s rescue by the Wingo children shows that children and young people are the only hope to build a new world order. The world of adults has failed in that aspect.

Like Papa John’s black widow spiders attacking Otis in Tolitha’s house, Caesar the tiger also represents nature as a savior.