Symbols in The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Bev Steward

Eyes

beverley_steward — 2025-08-26 05:14:58 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

The butterfly

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 21:55:52 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Blue

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 21:56:56 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Invisible boundary

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 21:58:24 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Birds

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 21:59:31 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Mr Bender's garden

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 22:00:39 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

The Mission

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 22:01:39 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

The Red Skirt

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 22:03:09 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Hands

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 22:05:25 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Water

beverley_steward — 2025-08-27 22:06:26 UTC

What does this symbol represent in the novel?

What key/main ideas does it link to? (Examples could be identity and what makes us who we are, truth and lies, control, nature vs technology, connection and belonging, being imperfect etc.

Write some quotations from the text where the symbol appears and say why each quotation is significant / what it means at this time in the text.

Eyes

lillianorth — 2025-08-28 02:22:57 UTC

It represents a deeper meaning of emotion in someone through their eyes.

Some quotes are -

"Her eyes cling to me, looking into my eyes and reflecting the pain she saw" (page 60)

"The shine of mothers eyes" (page 29)

Jenna can tell how people feel by looking at their eyes, and it links to how they act around others as well as how they look at others or yourself.

Butterfly

2025-08-28 02:28:49 UTC

This symbol represents the part of her brain that she still has. Page 113 The butterfly that's what they call it. The heart of the brain you still have. It links to the 10% of her brain that she has. It could also relate to Jenna thinking she's imperfect because she doesn't have a full brain.

2025-08-28 02:34:50 UTC

The butterfly shows how Jenna gets a second chance after her coma, she’s not the same, but like a butterfly after Metamorphosis. She is starting over and finding out who she is.

Butterfly

2025-08-28 02:39:52 UTC

The butterfly symbolizes for rebirth and formation. This relates to Jenna because of how she woken herself from a coma in a different personality than her original one.

Quote - " When a caterpillar though their life was over, it turned into a butterfly" - These references on page 113 when Jenna was supposed to die but scientist used Bio Gel to revive her into a different person.

Blue and the red skirt

2025-08-28 02:47:24 UTC

Jenna is surrounded by blue, it's on her walls, her floor and all she wears. Everywhere she goes she is surrounded by it, from the area she lives to the 'blood' running through her veins and even in her mind as she drowns in a sea of blue sadness. The Red skirt is a burst of colour, passion, anger and rebellion ,it shows the anger towards her parents for turning her in this thing, it shows her becoming her own person and breaking free from the programming her parents have inserted into her brain, the red skirt also ties in to who she used to be, it shows how much control and colour used to be in her life but know that she's a new person she's trapped with blue, she longs for red and reaches out for it, breaking her 'programming' by breaking herself even when blue leaks out of the 'wounds'

Water

2025-08-28 09:45:40 UTC

When Jenna was drowning on the way to Mr. Bender's house for the first time, she struggled in the water. She couldn't swim like a normal person and sank instead, which hinted at her non-normal body. Later, when Jenna was caught in the rain for the first time (contacted with natural rain), the rain made Jenna feel a sense of freedom, and she gradually accepted her non-human identity.The element of water connects the whole story . Water represents Jenna's changes and growth, and also symbolizes Jenna's situation and feelings.

Water

elizabethyiyeung — 2025-08-28 23:06:10 UTC

The writer uses the symbol of water to show stillness in the text. in page 124, the author writes about how a frustrated Jenna throws her sneaker into the pond, "Ripples fan out. They reach both shores, but within a minute the surface is glass again, the sneakers splashy entrance forgotten." The surface of the pond is equivalent to the layout of our lives, seemingly so easily penetrable. The writer describes how the sneaker manages to affect the still state of the water for half a heartbeat, before the water is glassy still again. This idea connects to life, how we can push ourselves to our limits, tear out our heart and soul for the one sole decision made to cause a change in our life, but never be able to fully alternate the nature of what is meant to occur. Sometimes, we might feel like we've already made a significant effort, sacrificed our all, but have little to no impact on your life. The writer refers to life's stillness, its frustratingly unmovable state, and how some things just never last.

Water

2025-08-28 23:11:45 UTC

As she watched the water's surface return from ripples to glassy calm, and as she watched it fall into the water, unable to swim like others, she had many thoughts, and she felt as if the whole world had changed. She saw the bandages, as if covering up all the secrets, and slowly came to accept that she was a completely new person, an artificial freak.

Red Skirt

2025-08-28 23:13:38 UTC

This red skirt represents Jenna wanting to be free.

When she looks through her clothes she notices that they are all blue and then she has a memory about a trip at the mall with Kara. Jenna is convinced to by this skirt and it was her favourite piece of clothing.

It shows freedom because she is basically rebeling against her mum because its something she doesnt approve of.

Some quotations are:

" All I wanted today was one simple thing. A red skirt." - Page 171

" I was looking for a red skirt i used to wear." (then Claire say's "it must of been some skirt.") (Jenna - ) "It was, i bought it when i was shopping with Kara."

These quotes show that Jenna just wants to express herself in her own way and not her mum's. She just wants something different.

Eyes

2025-08-29 00:07:24 UTC

I think Eyes represents how people can look into our soul. There’s a difference between how Jenna looks into Dane’s and Ethan’s eyes because she describes one of them as empty and one is full. The eyes change over time by how other’s perspective change like how Lily views Jenna before compare to now. Looking into other people's eyes show her how others act and their deep emotions.

Quotes

They call them windows to the soul - Pg 153

Butterfly

2025-08-29 00:11:55 UTC

I think the butterfly represents how Jenna was actually given a second chance at life. It is the only part that is actually the real Jenna. The butterfly could also represent Jenna being free, and becoming a newer version of Jenna. One quote from the book is on page 113: "When a caterpillar thought it's life was over, it turns into a butterfly." like a caterpillar going through it's metamorphosis . I think this means that Jenna wasn't supposed to survive, but still did because of the Biogel inside her.