53 pages • 1 hour read
Kent HarufOur Souls At Night
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Baby Mice
The nest of baby mice Louis finds in the corner of his tool shed are a recurring motif in the story and reflect Jamie’s growing emotional resilience. Over the summer, Louis and Jamie periodically check on the mice to see their progress. At first, they are “all pink and still blind, squirming and moiling around and making little whimpers” (68). At this stage, they are the most vulnerable—they are completely dependent and defenseless. This parallels Jamie’s emotional state when he first arrives. He scares easily, has nightmares, and cries at night since he is struggling with all the changes he has experienced: His mother has left him and his father, and his father has sent him away for the summer while he sorts out his financial situation. Jamie has separation anxiety, and he needs nurturing and protection. The next time Jamie checks on the mice, he feels confident enough to walk over to Louis’s by himself. This time, though the babies are still pink, one rises up on the edge of the box and sniffs around. This reflects how Jamie is starting to relax enough to become curious about what’s around him. Later in the summer, when they check on the mice again, the babies have “grown and now [have] dark hair and their eyes [are] open” (99). Louis determines they are about ready to leave the nest. Jamie, at this point, is behaving like most young boys of his age, playing catch and taking care of his dog. Yet, while he is more engaged in his surroundings, he still fears abandonment, which is evident in his question about the mice: “Why did the mother run away? She left them alone” (99). Eventually, all the mice leave the nest, just as Jamie eventually leaves the nest of his grandmother’s house. Like the young mice who will have to struggle to survive, Jamie, too, will have to strive to maintain his happiness and equanimity in his tumultuous homelife with his parents.
The Rescue Dog
Bonny, the dog Louis adopts from the shelter for Jamie, is another animal motif in the novel that explores loneliness, companionship, and aging. Whereas the baby mice are related to Jamie, Bonny is more a reflection of Louis and Addie. Louis decides that they should get a dog for Jamie so that the boy will have something else to occupy his time and thoughts other than his phone and two senior citizens. Bonny, named for a girl in Jamie’s class, limps and is missing some toes after she “had gotten her foot frozen in the winter when someone left her outside all night tied up on the back concrete patio” (87). She’s an older dog, already trained and past her high-energy puppy days, though she is still young enough to keep up with Jamie. The injury she experienced stemmed from neglect, which is a sad situation that many seniors face, but which Addie tries to combat, as evidenced by her attention to Ruth and her proposition to Louis. They first decide to keep the dog over at Louis’s, but Bonny’s whining and crying changes their minds. They recognize loneliness when they see it, so they allow Bonny to sleep in Jamie’s bed. The dog is happy after this, which also reflects how Louis and Addie are less lonely after they begin to share a bed. Bonny’s injury and limping do not hamper her as she becomes Jamie’s closest companion, a metaphor for how age and physical ability do not determine the depth of emotional connection.
Windows
In this novel, windows are a recurring symbol of characters’ world views. They depict people’s openness to life and the future they see ahead of them. A few times in the story, Louis closes the window because a “wind had come up” (13). Wind coming through the window represents that a change is coming, and at first, Louis is not open to change. For instance, Louis closes the window in the middle of the first night he spends with Addie. At this time, though he isn’t resistant to change, he is nervous about how much his life will change because of their sleeping arrangement. The second time Louis tries to close the windows is after they get the dog for Jamie. It is windy and rainy, but Addie tells him “[not to close them] completely. Doesn’t it smell lovely. The loveliest now” (97). This signifies that Addie is open to experiencing life and enjoying every moment while Louis still shies away from unpredictability and change. This is a sentiment Addie echoes again later when they discuss their spiritual beliefs; she tells Louis she loves being in the physical world. After they become intimate, they sleep naked on the bed with the windows wide open to feel the breeze, which is a sign of their openness to life. Now, Louis, too has come to adopt Addie’s worldview.
Viewing a sunrise or sunset through a window also has significance in the story. Often in literature, a sunset is more somber or negative, while a sunrise is hopeful and positive. However, these are reversed in this novel, which focuses on characters in their twilight years who enjoy the nights they spend together. The first mention of sunset is when Louis is in the hospital, watching the sun set through the windows. His old life of isolation is changing and his fear of public opinion is fading—the sun is setting on the old Louis. His old life and ways of thinking are fading. Later in the novel, he views the sunrise from his own bed after his final night with Addie, and the new day brings an unwelcome change for them.
Addie’s actions with windows are important, as well. Whereas at first she is the one who wants the windows open, welcoming in change and life and feeling, after Gene threatens her that he will cut her off from Jamie if she continues to see Louis, “Addie pull[s] the covers up to her face and turn[s] away from the window and [weeps]” (164). She doesn’t yet openly acknowledge that her future with Louis is about to change, but she knows their futures will be bleaker and lonelier. Though Addie will have a relationship with her grandson, she knows she will be lonely, under Gene’s control, and have limited freedom because of her broken hip. Though the story ends with Addie and Louis chatting warmly with each other over the phone, the final image of Addie is sorrowful: “She looked out the window. She could see her reflection in the glass. And the dark behind it” (179). She sees herself surrounded by darkness, which signifies her desolation and hopelessness and hints that her death is drawing nearer.
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By Kent Haruf
