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Symbolism in Safely Home
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Why is this symbolic?
Shattered glass is small, sharp, and often dangerous. We tell small children not to play with it, and to get out of the room when there's some on the floor. However, in Safely Home, the shattered glass is used as a symbol of the house churches in China. Why? because every time you step on broken glass, it only spreads even more; as shown here. "The warden stood and staggered again, accidentally stepping on the glass. Frustrated, he stomped on it, breaking it into little pieces that slithered across the floor, one large sliver sliding right up to Li Quan. (pg. 312)
Why is this symbolic?
A Rolex is an expensive watch, usually worn by people who are very rich. But why is this important and/or symbolic? Well, on page 244 it says "Tai Hong calmly removed his shiny Rolex watch-a bribe that had purchased someone's freedom or torture, Quan did not know which. Tai carefully put it in his front pants pocket. (pg. 244)" In those two sentences, it mentions bribery and torture. The watch could be a symbol of corruption, especially since Tai Hong is a police officer, and the police is supposed to be a force for good. It could also be a symbol of arrogance to some degree, seeing as Tai carefully took it off and put it in his pocket before beating Quan, and put it right back on afterward.
Why is this symbolic?
The wolf is the ancestor of the modern dog. They live in forests, and are nocturnal carnivores. However, I think the wolf is a good symbol for the Li family. Why? Because wolves live in a pack. They hunt in a pack, sleep in a pack... Pretty much do everything as a pack. Together. Li Quan and Chan Minghua do most things together as well often with Li Shen and sometimes the house church. Wolves are also very strong when they are together as a pack. Quan and Ming are strong when they are together as well. "She is the finest woman I have ever known," Quan said. "She holds up more than her half of our little sky." (page 345). The house church is also stronger when they are together because they support each other. Just like a family. Just like a wolf pack. Lastly, all wolves follow an alpha. In this case, Yesu Jidu is their alpha and king.
1.) Tai Hong's watch
Jade is an opaque green (sometimes white) stone. It has always been a symbol of wisdom, balance, peace, nobility, and power. In Safely Home, jade represents a great reward of some kind for some reason. Usually, boys were given jade just for being boys, and girls were given broken pottery just for being girls. However, Yesu does not work like that. "In China, government has given women broken pottery. Yesu has given us jade." (page 234). Ming states here that in Yesu's eyes men and women are equal, and therefore both deserve jade.