56 pages • 1 hour read
Angela JohnsonHeaven
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Dreams
Dreams, a motif in the novel, frequently allow Marley to process the turmoil of discovering the truth about her family, but she also sometimes mistakes memories of her past for dreams. Before she learns the truth about her family, the narrative features a whole chapter titled “Dreams,” in which Marley and her friends visit Lake Erie. While there, Marley recalls a letter that she received from Uncle Jack in which he states, “Years ago we carried the baby in a Moses basket onto the beach” (67). Significantly, Jack describes himself as part of a duo, but although he does not reveal the identity of his companion or of the baby, Marley feels a visceral connection to this memory. As she reflects, “I’m in a dream and the baby is me (67). She explains this vision away as a dream, believing that Uncle Jack’s letter has shaped her perception, but the narrative implies that Marley is recalling a moment from her past when Uncle Jack and Christine took her to the Gulf coast and waded in the water with her. Because she does not yet know the truth about her past at this point in the novel, she can only rationalize this memory as a dream.
Near the end of the text, Marley has an important dream in which “everybody [she] knew had wings […] But there [she] was—wingless, sitting on top of a plane waiting for takeoff” (123). In this context, wings suggest freedom or the ability to transcend earthly problems. There is a clear connection to the heavenly realm, which also functions as an allusion to the idyllic town of Heaven. The wingless Marley feels trapped by the problems facing her, and even though she sits atop a plane—another means of flying—she cannot fly of her own volition. Instead, she must wait for someone else to initiate the “takeoff.” This imagery indicates that Marley does not feel that she has any control over her own life.
Other figures in her dream bear the scars of past hurts that affect their ability to fly. Specifically, both Bobby and Shoogy possess wings and the potential for flight, but their wings are injured and in need of repair. The fact that they are seeking to fix their wings and helping each other to do so indicates that they are healing from their past traumas. Even though they are unsure whether they will be able to fly, they possess a modicum of control over their situations, unlike Marley.
However, the dream takes a positive turn when Marley’s loved ones begin expressing the negative aspects of having wings. Through this symbolic exchange, Marley realizes that agency carries other limitations and does not translate to unlimited freedom or a life without struggle. The dream has a real-world impact on Marley when Bobby shows her his latest mural, which depicts “a woman sitting on an airplane” (126). While it is unclear how Bobby knows about Marley’s dream, his depiction suggests that Marley has more control that she thinks; she does have wings, after a fashion. The symbolism of the airplane indicates that Marley’s trauma has shaped and re-shaped her past and present, but she still possesses the freedom to choose how she will shape her future.
Letters
Written letters represent Marley’s connection to her birth parents. Most notably, these missives are the primary means of communication between Marley and Uncle Jack, who she learns is her birth father. Similarly, Christine’s love letters to Jack become the only tangible connection that Marley has to her birth mother. Whether they arrive in the mail or appear as long-cherished keepsakes, letters help Marley to understand the emotional landscapes of the people who are part of her complex family.
For much of the novel, Marley communicates with Uncle Jack primarily though letters, as part of a long-standing tradition that helps the protagonist to connect with a person whom she cannot recall meeting. As Marley admits, “Uncle Jack’s words. That’s all I know of him. His letters and the words he’s lent to us to be a part of him […] Mostly, though, Uncle Jack is just shadowy” (20-21). Marley romanticizes Uncle Jack’s nomadic lifestyle, even admitting to Shoogy, “I always wanted to go live with my uncle Jack when I was little” (70). Only when Marley finds out that Uncle Jack is her biological father does she understand that Uncle Jack has been running away from his problems for years. His nomadic lifestyle is his way of trying to leave escape the pain of losing his wife and leaving his daughter behind. Just as Jack’s letters give Marley a greater understanding of her biological father, the letters from Christine to Jack are the only real connection that Marley has to her birth mother. She begins carrying Christine’s letter around in her pocket, feeling as though she is regaining a piece of herself. Consequently, when she misplaces the letter, she feels as though she is losing an aspect of her identity all over again.
While these written records help Marley to understand the nuances of her family’s past decisions, the only way that she and Jack can repair their relationship is to move beyond the written word. As Jack writes to Marley, “I don’t have to be your uncle, Marley; but I certainly won’t ever try to be your dad. You have one who loves you, as I do” (120). He signs the letter “Jack” abandoning the fictitious title of “Uncle Jack” even as he leaves the door open for Marley to reject further connection with him. When they meet in person, Jack can no longer hide behind his letters or run from his past, and he begins telling Marley new stories about Christine. These stories, shared in person rather than in writing, are gifts that help Marly to realize that she “love[s] the man who finally came back to tell [her] the stories [she] needed to hear from so long ago” (142). While letters may be the only things she has of Christine, Marley now has Jack to tell her about her past.
Glow-in-the-Dark Stars
The glow-in-the-dark stars on Marley’s ceiling symbolize the enduring love of her family. When Marley learns that Momma and Pops are her adoptive parents, her relationship with them is upended. As she begins questioning everything about her past and her present identity, the stars become an anchor and a guiding force for Marley. When Pops first puts the stars in Marley’s bedroom, he essentially gives Marley a vast galaxy in her tiny bedroom as a symbol of his love for her. Now, remembering Pops’s kindness to her over the years helps her to navigate her new reality and reframe her relationship to those she loves. As Marley reels from the revelation that Pops and Momma are her adoptive parents, the stars come to represent a fixed point for Marley to hold onto as she questions everything else about her life. The fact that Pops is always careful to put the replacement stars in the same place indicates his thoughtfulness and care for Marley. He and Momma create a dependable environment for her even though they have obscured the true connection between them. Marley holds onto this idea even as she struggles with her new understanding about their relationship. Eventually, she decides, “The stars were a good thing, and I could look around the room and see other good things” (92). Like the stars and moon in her bedroom, which were placed there by the man who loves her as his own, Marley can appreciate the people who have always loved her and have been there for her, and she learns to forgive them for the pain they have caused her.
