Throughout Mattie's childhood, she hears stories about her grandfather fighting the British during the Revolutionary War. Grandfather's sword (symbol)Ĭaptain Cook's sword symbolizes his heroic past and the importance of family traditions. If Mattie were to marry into that world, she would be much more restricted in her choices and behavior. The stays symbolize the restricted and repressed life of upper-class women during this era. Mattie would not wear this type of garment in her everyday life because she needs to be able to move around freely to do her work, and this type of clothing was only necessary in order to wear the fancy gowns of the wealthy. When Mattie is getting dressed to attend tea at the Ogilvie house, she gets laced into stays: a garment similar to a corset, designed to tightly control the silhouette of a woman's body. This type of technological innovation would have been bold and even shocking at this time, but it tells Mattie that people who follow their vision can do incredible things. For Mattie, the balloon symbolizes the progress of modernity and the value of believing in one's dreams.
This detail is historically accurate, as a balloonist named Jean-Pierre Blanchard flew the first balloon flight in North America beginning in Philadelphia in January 1793.
Buy Study Guide The hot air balloon (symbol)Īt the start of the novel, Mattie reflects on a hot air balloon flight she watched a few months before the outbreak of the epidemic.
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