57 pages • 1-hour read
Broken Harbour
A 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
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness, child death, and death by suicide.
The Pin
The “I GO TO JOJO’S” pin is an important symbol throughout the novel and is crucial to its plot. Scorcher initially finds it when they search the Spains bedroom, when he identifies “the secret [he] had been waiting for” tucked into a cardigan (91). He notes that it “was a round pin-badge, the cheap metal kind you can buy at street stalls […] it had started out pale blue; to one side there was a smiling yellow sun, to the other something white that could have been a hot-air balloon or maybe a kite” (91). At first the pin is a clue that there is something beyond initial appearances to the crime. It shows that Jenny is keeping a secret and is the first indication of Conor’s intrusive presence in the Spains’ home. When Richie identifies Conor as a close friend of the Spains and they interview Fiona again, the pin becomes a symbol of their former closeness and happy memories.
The pin is also ultimately an important plot element. Conor placed the pin in the Spains’ home the day of the murders, intending to lighten the household with good memories of their past. However, for Jenny, it creates a suspicion of her own mental instability, as she is unable to decide whether she had put it there herself, and was struggling more than she realized, or had a stalker. Conor’s actions illustrate how, throughout the novel, characters often act from an impulse to alleviate another’s suffering but end up exacerbating it.
The Animal
The nonexistent animal intruder with which Pat becomes obsessed is a symbol of the dark side of human nature. It symbolizes how little it can take for functional, well-liked people to undertake horrible actions when they are put under pressure. The animal as symbol connects with the novel’s exploration of The Essential Animal Nature of Humans. It is a shadowy figure, lurking within the attic and walls, which suggests that something more primal and animalistic lurks just under the civilized surface of the modern family home. It is also connected to the question of whether murder is invited in or random. Like Conor, the animal is an intruder in the Spains’ life. It is not invited in, or even real, but it aligns with the idea of intruders in one’s space, whether those are real or imagined, benevolent or malicious.
Emma’s Drawing
Emma’s drawing on the last day of her life is both an important piece of evidence for Scorcher and Richie to consider and a symbol of what could have been. It is described as “[a] kid’s crayon drawing, four yellow heads, blue sky, birds overhead and black cat sprawled in a flowering tree” and when they find it in Conor’s apartment, Scorcher notes that “[t]he rust-brown that smeared the sky and the flowers wasn’t paint. She had drawn the picture on Monday, probably in school, with a handful of hours left in her life” (259). In a general sense, the picture is poignant as a last picture drawn by a child who shouldn’t have died for many years, but the reference to the “rust-brown,” implied to be her blood, introduces an element of graphic violence to the idyllic picture. It also represents what her life could have been and what the Spains originally wanted their lives to be: an idyllic scene of a family at home. The “black cat,” which Scorcher later realizes was actually the animal, is a looming presence over the family.
The drawing is important to plot as well, since it places Conor at the crime scene, shows Pat’s animal, and implicates Jenny, who instructed Conor to take it away to remove suspicion from Pat. The picture is therefore a unique piece of evidence that could point to any of the three main suspects: Pat, Jenny, or Conor. During the interview with Scorcher, Jenny seems to view the picture as accusatory and representative of what was wrong in their lives: When Scorcher confronts her with it she squirms away, “her body twisted away from the drawing as if it might leap for her” (461).
Unlock the meaning behind every key symbol & motif
See how recurring imagery, objects, and ideas shape the narrative.
- Explore how the author builds meaning through symbolism
- Understand what symbols & motifs represent in the text
- Connect recurring ideas to themes, characters, and events