Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse and emotional abuse.

The singleton socks left behind at the laundromat act as a symbol of loneliness and disconnection from others. These socks have been separated from their mates, pinned to a board, “solo and abandoned” (3). Magnolia, who is lonely and isolated herself, feels bad for them and waits for their owners to come to claim them. Later in the story, as each sock is reunited with its mate, Magnolia forges connections with the people in her community. With each new connection, she learns lessons about life and the complexity of human beings, allowing her to feel less lonely and isolated.

The symbol of the socks links The Gift of Friendship to The Gift of a Wider Perspective by showing how becoming authentically connected to the people in her community helps Magnolia understand life in a more nuanced and empathetic way. Magnolia has an instinctive longing for connection—as shown by her yearning for a friend and her creation of the lost sock board in the first place. Until Iris comes into her life, she’s not able to turn her longing into action.