The Quiet Librarian

The blue marbles function as a motif that traces Hana/Nura’s relationships, losses, and eventual healing. They are gifted to Nura by her childhood friend Tanja, representing cross-cultural friendship and the power of love to overcome boundaries. While Nura is a Bosniak, Tanja and Jovana, Nura’s other close friend, are Orthodox Serbs. The girls’ friendship endures despite their differences, but only until war divides them.

Once conflict begins in Bosnia, however, the marbles’ meaning darkens. Nura gives the marbles, along with a slingshot, to her brother, Danis. At this point in the narrative, the marbles symbolize not only sisterly love but also Nura’s desire to protect Danis from the danger that the war poses. Used as ammunition in the slingshot, the marbles become literal weapons and objects of resistance against violence—they are no longer symbols of harmony. Danis uses one of the marbles to injure Luka, who in turn fatally shoots him.

Nura keeps one of the blue marbles when she leaves the charred remnants of her family farm to remind her of her family and the violence they endured. It resurfaces as a symbol of protection when she later gives it to Amina, telling her that it is an “amulet” that will keep her safe.