Lulu Napier-Benincasa                                              803

“ If you are lost you might need to swim against the tide.”

                 -Counting by 7’s Holly Goldberg

   

    This quote connects to this book because the main character Summer is trapped in this awful reality and when she can’t do something she has  the urge to do it drives her insane and she has to live with it until it gets better.

  

     In the book the Cellar by Natasha Preston the main character Summer runs into an unfortunate situation.  She is kidnapped by someone who calls himself clover and locked in a house with three other girls. They are renamed after flowers because he thinks flowers are pure and beautiful and he thinks it could be his perfect family.  Together they face death abuse and insanity.  In the book there are many important symbols that add artistic details and imagery to the story.

  

   Very meaningful images displayed in this book are the flowers in the vases. “There  were three vases on the table one with almost dead  Roses , one with almost dead Poppies and one with beautiful fresh Lilies still standing tall.” This was on page 116  and I think this is a metaphor for how Summer (who is called Lily by her kidnapper) is still strong and brave and will not give up. In other words she is not like the other girls who have been in the house for a long time and have become who he wants them to be but summer is strong and will not let him change her.

  

    Another image portrayed in this book would be the blade that Clover (the kidnapper) carries with him everywhere.  I think this is important because emotionally he is extremely unstable and is insane but this blade gives him power and makes him feel strong and in control. It acts as something he can rely on when he does not feel emotionally sturdy. He starts to feel the slightest bit of guilt about keeping the girls he goes out to kill. This makes him feel regenerated and refreshed in a sick insane way.

  

    Finally the last important symbol that stands out is the hand sanitizer. I think this is a symbol because Summer feels dirty and revolted being around the man who kidnapped her and she uses the hand sanitiser to not only kill germs but she feels she is also washing away a feeling of disgust and scrubbing away at her self emotionally. Being around him makes her feel sick and he is permanently damaging her mind. A lot of times in the book we see summer take a shower and she says “ I scrubbed my body until it was raw and pink just to get his presence off of me.” We know that she feels a bundle of emotions such as anger, disgust, fear,and maybe even depression. This tells us that there are many things in this book that are deeper than what they appear to be.

      

    Overall, this book includes many great symbols that are extremely important.  Also symbols do come up in your own life and they can be very meaningful to someone.  In life our should always look out for those little things that might change you and that might make an impact in your life forever. Never overlook the small things in life. Another important message this book gives me is even if it seems like the hard thing to do it might be the safer and better thing to do.