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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. The Covid-19 Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic symbolizes involuntary isolation and the threat of an unfriendly outside world. The pandemic forces Lara and her family to spend an extended period together on the farm, away from everything else they know. Their enforced closeness creates an environment where reflecting on the past feels inevitable because the memories feel so close by. The pandemic also highlights the fragility of life in the present moment of the novel, which balances 2020’s disastrous atmosphere with the violent deaths that often pop up unexpectedly in Lara’s stories. It’s also a nod to how unreliable fate is, which ties in with Lara’s reflections on her career as an actress and the choices she made to get to where she is. The pandemic lockdowns and the Nelson daughters’ confinement to the farm gives them the rare opportunity to hear their mother’s stories about these choices, and about dating Peter Duke. The virus itself feels like a background character in the story, especially because Lara tunes out any mentions of it whenever she can. She pretends it isn’t happening in order to enjoy the unusual presence of all three of her kids. As the pandemic disrupts the Nelsons’ present, it also mirrors the unpredictability of Lara’s past, where disasters seem to rise out of nowhere. As a symbol, the coronavirus pandemic shows how unexpected events—whether a global crisis or personal decisions around romance and fidelity—can alter the course of lives.
Cherries
In Tom Lake, cherries symbolize emotional fragility and the vulnerability of the environment. The dark, sweet cherries the Nelsons pick at the beginning of the summer must be harvested quickly and by hand, before they spoil. Unlike the cheaper tart cherries that the Nelsons primarily produce, sweet cherries can’t just be shaken down and collected en masse. The cherries’ susceptibility to the weather, pests, and time means that they have to be carefully gathered and sorted by hand before they are sold. Just as the cherries require careful attention and timing to ensure they arrive with buyers in perfect condition, so too do Lara’s tales of her past. She has to carefully prune and curate her story in order to feel safe sharing her truth with her family. The fragility of the cherries at Three Sisters Orchards emphasizes how easily relationships and memories can rot away if not carefully collected and processed. In addition to this, the orchard’s comparatively delicate ecosystem is a microcosm of the vulnerability of the larger global environment and climate. Emily is terrified of the effects of climate change on the farm, which are already obvious in the diminishing harvests and worsening weather. The family’s dependence on the cherry harvest for their livelihood connects them directly to the land: no cherries, no Three Sisters Orchards. Throughout the novel, the cherries remind the reader that both family life and the environment require careful stewardship. Their highlights the importance of tending to what is valuable before it is too late, and treating it with respect and delicacy.
Seamstressing
When characters work on seamstressing—making and repairing clothes— in Tom Lake, they are doing more than just improving garments. Reparative or constructive sewing is a symbol of care, preservation, and the quiet work of preserving memories. Lara spends years learning how to sew to a professional standard from her grandmother Nell. It’s a skill that serves both a practical purpose and a metaphorical one. As Lara mends worn clothing, she thinks about her past and dreams about her future, literally piecing together the choices that shaped her life. Occupying herself with repairs also mirrors her emotional efforts to reconcile her past with her present, particularly the complicated tangle of feelings around her relationships with Peter Duke and her husband Joe. In a way, sewing represents the nurturing role Lara plays in her family. She cares for her daughters and husband, quietly maintaining the fabric of their lives together and remaking things where they tear. Through seamstressing, Lara connects the tangible labor of keeping clothes intact with the emotional labor of motherhood and mental record-keeping.
