Symbolism is where something stands for itself and something else, and it is important in a lot of books, short stories, poems, and other literature pieces. People, animals, objects, and even elements can be symbols. In Solar Storms, water is a much used symbol, and it can be applied to the two major themes of the book: how Angel changes throughout the book and the American dreams of each of the main characters.
The symbolization of water helps explain how Angel changes throughout the novel. For instance, Angel is known as “the girl who never cried” (26) when she first arrives, but she soon is okay with crying. The story says, “I was still shaken and sobbing when Agnes opened the door… and I who had never cried as a child, not even at the taunting…show more content… For example, Angel’s American dream was to find her mother and learn about her past. On page 75, Solar Storms states, “Sometimes [Bush] worked on the turtle. From the door and window I saw it begin to come together… when I first learned to swim, I imagined myself as the turtle.” Angel sees herself as the turtle who “comes together” piece by piece, like she is by slowly learning about her past. Additionally, Bush’s American dream is to protect nature and stop the dams from being built by the government. The symbolization of water helps show this on page 123, “‘Beavers. None of them ever considered how beavers change the land.’ [Bush] was right. Beavers were the true makers of land.” From this, Bush is saying that the government should not build dams because beavers build them naturally. Also, Dora-Rogue’s American dream is to die at the Fat-Eaters. An example of water imagery from the story is, “Even Dora-Rogue looked afraid, and she was the one who’d been certain we would make it through, the one who’d worked out a deal, whatever it was, with water.” (194) This shows that no matter how hard the journey was to get to the Fat-Eaters, Dora would do whatever it took to get there. Moreover, Agnes’ American dream was to take care of her mother, Dora-Rogue, and it shows throughout the book, “When [Agnes] came to Dora-Rogue’s white blouse, she ran it through as if