In the short story, “The Glass Roses”, Alden Nowlan uses the glass roses in the story as a symbol of innocence. Leka tells Stephen about his mothers glass roses, which were “very pretty little glass roses”. 7, that had gotten shattered in the war. This represents Leka’s innocence, which also “got smashed”. 7. During the war, he explained his desire to retain Stephen's innocence, as his own childhood innocence was shattered too soon. Stephen's father however, does the opposite, he is more concerned with his son becoming a man than he is letting him be a child, “You got to start actin’ like a man.” Pg. 1, it did not help that Stephen was fifteen years old, working alongside his dad and many other “burly” Pgs. 1 men. Stephen's dad, along with