The Revealing Star
Whether we think about it or not, symbols are very much a part of our life. To each individual, stars symbolize a certain kind of meaning. For Margaret the star symbol appears to create a range of associations beyond itself. The star symbolizes Margaret’s slow growing tumor, her china collection, and her guilt and shame. In Broken for you, by Stephanie Kallos, the symbol of the star reveals Margaret to be a different person than she used to be.
Margaret’s slow growing tumor is symbolized through a star by the way the tumor is growing. The tumor itself is not necessarily star-shaped but the cells in which it originates are. The low grade tumor gave her time to do things she does throughout the book. She called it, “A slow-growing star,” which symbolized her tumor and the amount of time Margaret had left (Kallos 8). Margaret appeared to be more open about new things after finding out about the slow-growing star. It motivated her to step outside of her comfort zone. Opening her house for others to rent, going out of her house, and even talking to people all were initiated from the symbol of the star. The star revealed Margaret to new adventures that
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The star in her brain, then symbolizes the effects of the china upon her. Possessing guilt and shame of holding onto the china accompanying the untreated tumor was literally killing her. When she finally did something about it, by smashing the china to rebuild herself, her health stabilized for a time. “Compared with the January CT, the tumor demonstrates no appreciable change,” Doctor Leising’s explained to Margaret (Kallos 276). Without any medical treatment, Margaret was healthy for her circumstances just letting go of the china. The star mirrored Margaret’s guilt and shame by not treating the tumor or letting go of the past, yet once she did let go of the past, she was rid of all the guilt and shame and transformed