symbolism
The following slides a guide to support your analysis of various symbols in Counting by 7s.
You will need to find quotes and events referred to in your copy of the novel in order to:
à understand the context of these ideas,
à be able to explain and evaluate how the author’s use of these symbols conveys the message,
à and to source correct page numbers (to include in your essay).
“favorite number”
the number seven is a prime number – seen as a symbol of perfection and completion
how Willow marks time her (first) adoption occurred on the
“Seventeen minutes after our arrival” “for 37 straight minutes” “147 months and 7 days later” seventh day of the seventh month
“obsessions” and one of the ways she keeps “order in [her] universe”
when willow stops counting by 7s, it stirs empathy with the readers
counting by 7s marks Willow’s stages of grief
coping/escape mechanism “counting the flax seeds” “counting by 7s…a new record”
unable to calm her after parent’s death
“can’t count anymore by 7s”
after her court hearing (consider the date of this) she’s ready to count again “types of catastrophes
…days of the week…
“…count to 7, instead of by 7s””
colors of the rainbow”
the number 7
Willow sees herself through different plants “[plants] don’t just feel the wind; they change directions because of it”
“a cold-climate tree”
”are living, growing, reproducing, pushing and pulling in the ground all around us at all times”
reveals stages of grief
“trees that survive fire…Their bark is burned and their limbs are dead branches….
But hidden under that skeleton is a force that sends a single shoot of green out into the world.”
as her relationships with the Nguyens grows…
she compares herself to the ”sunflowers” (tentatively putting down roots)
Willow sees the removal of the rooftop cuttings as a “sign”
“losing my clippings” = an obstacle she must overcome
plants = story of transformation
process of growth and change = difficult…but characters become stronger
plants
“everything in life could be seen in a garden” “a good garden holds so many kinds of life”
“To know me is to know my garden. It is my sanctuary.” “Citrus Road”
home garden symbolises her family…the past
“obsessively cultivating rare corpse flowers” after the death of her parents’, she is unable to “return”
“human corpse flower has blossomed”
after processing her grief “The Gardens of Glenwood.”
“I realize that I’m looking at the lawns and the trees and the flower-beds” = pivotal moment
“garden is challenging me… to see my own situation”
“the garden covered with a crop of sunflowers…will have to be replanted”
courtyard garden project = brings characters together
“still feeling the triumph of the garden” when...
“a garden in the courtyard will not ever be the same as what was in my backyard at home”
after Willow leaves…
“I shut my eyes and do my best to imagine I’m back in the new garden.”
Mai, Pattie and Quang Ha listen to the “rustling” of leaves “Dell took his time watering Willow’s new garden”
“after everything has settled down” … Willow sits “in the courtyard” and considers her new life…
gardens
“Each blossom held its own unique possibility.” Mai sees: “sunflowers for sale”
“a decal in a classroom window”
“two dozen packets of sunflower seeds spread out on the counter” as different signs…
“best way to grow sunflowers is in the ground…enormous taproots that burrow deep”
“a courtyard with sunflowers"
“constantly thinking about what to do once the sunflowers are
finished…have grown in these last few weeks…bloomed”
“have to be replanted”
as her relationships with the Nguyens grows… “Quang-ha’s…reache[s] almost seven feet.”
she compares herself to the ”sunflowers” (tentatively putting down roots)
“Right now I’m the sunflower. Temporary, but attaching myself to the ground underneath me. The
garden is challenging me, as always, to see my own situation.”
“if they didn’t get their small sunflower plants at home into the ground soon they’d be stunted”
cutting down the sunflowers = pivotal moment
sunflowers
Healthy-Start meal = beet greens topped with “flax seeds”
“began counting the flax seeds, multiplying them by 7s”
“when Quang-ha was little he put toothpicks in the sides and tried to grow avocado trees”
rescue of the avocado pit = pivotal moment
“two dozen packets of sunflower seeds spread out on the counter”
“I stare at the seed envelopes and it’s too much” = pivotal moment
“we spread some seeds onto a wet paper towel”
“planted seeds in twenty-three containers, which have pretty much
taken over the kitchen. And we have germination in all of them”
the sunflowers need to be “transplanted”
seeds
Mai = “stepped down hard on an acorn”
Willow also compares herself to the “acorn”
“rested on its side in the middle of the road, unharmed”
“the acorn hadn’t flattened”
“a small, green acorn” acorn = “survivor”
sign = ready to begin new life
planting the acorn = permanent roots – a place to grow
“I pick a spot off to the side where I know there might be space for something of size to
grow. I punch my finger into the dirt to make a small hole, and I drop in the brown nut.”
the acorn
red = “very important in the plant world” “My mom has fine, red hair…”
the colour appears in moments of growth and good fortune
red nail polish
ironically part of Willow’s parents' tragic deaths - red traffic light
red paper lanterns
red linoleum-topped table
red rolling luggage bag
red chair in library
relates to an important step in Willow's healing
adoption hearing
underneath the “red lava rock heap” is soil
“red sun hat“
“red tie”
“red slippers” “the little bugs moving around in curls of wood look bright red”
the colour red
“a flock of wild, green-rumped parrots”
Willow ”rescues” the “littlest parrot [who] was pushed from the nest…naming him Fallen”
With “careful hand-feeding” she acts as a “parrot- parent” then “reintroduced him back to his flock”
reveals stages of grief
Pattie feeds Willow as if she were “coaxing a baby bird”
“drift back to sleep, the screen of my mind fills with hummingbirds”
as she adjusts to her new life Willow compares her new family to a “flock”
“Right now I’m in a flock. And so is Dell Duke”
seeing a hummingbird in “flowering bottle brush” = pivotal moment
adoption hearing…
Pattie wears “a white silk shirt with two embroidered doves “
“two small birds find their way down to the honeysuckle planted next to the bamboo”
“speak …not in words, but in action. They tell [her] that life goes on”
birds
“my garden gave me a window into other aspects of companionship” “garage has only one window”
“That night, I found myself staring out the window at the sky and counting by 7s for what ended up being a new record.”
“There is a window in here, and from my position in the corner on the cold tiles I watch the sunrise bathe the world in orange light.”
“three glass pieces have caught the sun…send small spots of color down into the room below”
“It’s like a stained-glass window.”
“I can tell Quang-ha feels the same way “
piecing together broken pieces of glass = “a totally different quality”
“Chunks of green and amber filter down from above. What was an ordinary and soulless feature is suddenly interesting.”
“I look out the window at all the plants growing in people’s gardens, and get lost in that.” “It’s temporary.”
“Quang-ha leaves an avocado pit in the window ledge”
“glance out the window…consider possibilities of grafting”
“I have a few small cuttings taking root in water glasses by the window.”
through the kitchen window …“hear the rustling of a thousand leaves”
windows/the stained-glass window