55 pages • 1 hour read
A Tangle of Knots
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Symbols & Motifs
The Traveling Salesman
The unnamed traveling salesman is a symbol of fate. When he first appears in the Prologue, he is described as “a man in a gray suit. He might have been forty, he might have been older, and he was, quite easily, the largest man in the bus station, his enormous frame threatening even the brick support posts for sturdiest structure” (3). His agelessness and larger-than-life size add to the sense that there is something otherworldly about the man. His Talent is tying knots, which provides another fitting symbol of destiny. As he tells the young Mason Burgess, “If you don’t know the trick, it’s a muddled predicament. But in fact each loop of every knot is carefully placed, one end twisting right into the other in a way you might not have expected” (5). The same can be said of the characters’ surprisingly tangled lives. Graff also uses color symbolism to develop the traveling salesman’s significance. He wears a gray suit, and Talents form a “gray haze” when they are separated from their owners (176). Fate determines whether individuals will be Talented or Fair and decides which Talents people receive. Likewise, the traveling salesman gives Cady the opportunity to absorb a new Talent in the Epilogue. As the personification of fate, the traveling salesman plays an important role in advancing the plot and the theme of Destiny Versus Chance. He is at work in many key moments of the story. He steals Mason Burgess’s suitcase containing the irreplaceable recipe, returns the case to the Owner 53 years later, guides Will to the Museum of Natural Sciences when the boy has the Jupiter bird’s toe bone in his possession, and brings Marigold and Zane to the bakeoff because they “might be needed here” (192). This final act allows Marigold to thwart the Owner’s attempt to take Cady’s Talent for himself. The traveling salesman in the gray suit symbolizes fate and plays a key role in the plot and the theme of destiny.
Cady’s Cakes
The cakes that Cady bakes serve as a motif of the theme of Identity and Self-Discovery. Her Talent allows her to bake cakes that perfectly reflect individuals’ identities, often incorporating details from their personalities and Talents. For example, The Owner’s Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting reflects his single-minded obsession with finding his mother’s recipe and restoring the Darlington Peanut Butter Factory to its former glory. This particular cake paves the way for the novel’s climax because the Owner becomes determined to steal Cady’s Talent after tasting it. Furthering the connection between cakes and identity, Cady bakes Toby a (Not Quite Perfect) Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting because the chameleon conceals his true self from her. Toby is not the only individual whose perfect cake poses a challenge for the talented young baker. In Chapter 45, Cady is at a loss when the woman at the Annual Sunshine Bakeoff advises her, “[W]hy don’t you bake the cake that’s your favorite?” (179). The protagonist doesn’t know her favorite cake because she still needs to discover herself. For most of the novel, Cady is defined by her belief that she must please other people to earn her perfect family. The experience at the bakeoff forces her to realize that she’s been waiting for a family to come along and give her a sense of identity, and she begins to see that she must place more importance on her own happiness. In the Epilogue, Cady at last fulfills her dream of baking her own Adoption Day cake, which combines cherry, chocolate, and almond. The following excerpt reinforces the link between cakes and identity: “It had been difficult, at first, figuring out the perfect kind of cake to bake for her own Adoption Day party. Because it was a hard thing to know exactly who you were” (227). Cady needs time to figure out who she is now without her cake-baking Talent or her focus on pleasing people, but the hopeful ending shows that she is beginning to discover herself with some help from her new family. The motif of Cady’s cakes advances the plot, develops the theme of Identity and Self-Discovery, and informs the protagonist’s characterization.
The Hybrid Flowers
The hybrid flowers symbolize Cady. They are introduced in Chapter 24 and combine the best qualities of Miss Mallory’s two favorite flowers, petunias and pansies: “The flowers had the petunia’s distinctive mauve hue and the pansy’s particular petals. Even their scent was a perfect mix—combining the crisp freshness of a petunia with a pansy’s delicate richness” (118). Although Miss Mallory finds the hybrid flowers stunning, she hesitates to plant them because she can’t decide if they belong with the petunias or the pansies. Cady’s arc parallels the hybrid flowers. Miss Mallory is unsure where to put them, and Cady stays in Miss Mallory’s Home for Lost Girls for 10 years, far longer than any of the other children she placed. Although Miss Mallory knows deep down that she and Cady are meant to be a family, she selflessly ignores this knowledge because she feels that Toby is meant to adopt Cady. Eventually, Miss Mallory realizes that there is more than one ideal parent for Cady, just as there is more than one right place for the hybrid flowers. With Cady’s help, Miss Mallory plants the hybrid flowers among both the petunias and pansies outside their little family’s home in the Lost Luggage Emporium. Miss Mallory drives the symbolism home when she tells Cady, “It took me a while to figure it out [...] but it turns out there are some things in this world that can fit perfectly in more than one spot” (228). The hybrid flowers symbolize the protagonist and parallel her journey to finding her two perfect parents.
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By Lisa Graff
