Black Leopard (Mehraz Rahman)

Professor Bump

 

Symbols for Fowler 3

 

Meditation beads to attain enlightenment and liberation from the net of language

The meditation beads, made from the wood of a Bodhi tree in India, are symbolic of Buddha and his famous quest to attain enlightenment. In We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, the Cookes have struggled with what it means to be a Òfamily.Ó According to Lowell, Fern was, for all intents and purposes, their sister, regardless of her species. To Rosemary, she was a beloved sister, though a stressful and burdensome one to whom she was constantly being compared. To their parents, though they loved Fern dearly, the danger and stress she posed to their other children was not worth keeping her in their family. Like the Cookes, people all over the world struggle with what it means to be a Òfunctional family.Ó If they do not look or act like the picture-perfect nuclear family with a mom, a dad, and children who get along and love each other, people often struggle to accept their families the way they are. 

 

Hammer of unity

The way that Rosemary presented her story, by starting in the middle, was an interesting way of hammering her thoughts into unity. Though it was by no means chronological, the way her story was told was extremely impactful. She successfully hammered all of her atypical but extraordinary life experiences into unity.

 

Shell of pilgrimage

The shell of pilgrimage represents RosemaryÕs journey through her life, both mental and physical. To escape her strange family dynamic, she moved away to UC Davis to attend college. However, she ended up living with her mother, coming full circle and completing a pilgrimage that helped her find her calling and eventually lead a happy life. Lowell also does the same thing when he moves away without warning after FernÕs exile but eventually finally comes to visit Rosemary.