Throughout the novel certain symbols show up and are talked about but never fully explained. Troubles for him like his faulty valve are brought up in almost every chapter. While it is never fully explained why his valve is, we as readers eventually figure out that the valve is somehow related to his digestion. While this is a huge problem for him, we as readers never learn why this became a problem and why it is not checked out. He uses it as an excuse to get out of almost anything. He uses it to alienate his mom whenever she is mean. He also uses it to guilt Mr. Gonzalez throughout his time working at Levy Pants. The valve almost becomes his crutch of never being able to be a fully functional adult. This struggle affects his entire life although his mother does not fully believe it is a problem. On page 48 they have a conversation about the valve, “’What are you doing? Are you fooling with that valve again? Nobody else got him a valve but you. I ain’t got no valve.’” “’Everyone has a valve!’ Ignatius screamed. ‘Mine is simply more developed…’” How does this interaction change your view of the “valve”?
Why do you think this is brought up in the novel?
What other consistent symbols are brought up in the novel?
