Corby’s mural is the novel’s clearest symbol of art as a form of healing. Commissioned late in his prison sentence, the mural becomes an act of memory, imagination, and emotional release. It features key figures in Corby’s life—his children, his wife, fellow inmates, Dr. Patel, Solomon—as well as symbolic elements like butterflies, landscapes, and a self-portrait of Corby gazing into the prison yard. The mural is a visual narrative of Corby’s inner life, allowing him to express and share his grief with others.

The mural’s significance extends beyond Corby. After his death, it becomes a point of reconnection for Emily and Maisie as well, who visit Yates to see it in person. Maisie’s high-five to the image of Niko signals that the mural is a tool for ongoing connection and healing. In a setting built to erase identity, Corby’s art reasserts individuality, memory, and legacy.

The great blue heron appears at key turning points in the novel, functioning as a subtle but persistent symbol of Overcoming Guilt and Finding Redemption. The first sighting occurs early on, when Corby retreats to the river to process his grief. As he throws gravel at his own face and shouts apologies into the woods, the heron watches silently, taking flight only when Corby collapses. This image—of an indifferent but ever-present observer—reinforces the theme of internal reckoning. The heron doesn’t intervene or offer comfort, but its presence seems to suggest that grief, like nature, must unfold at its own pace.

The heron reappears in the novel’s final section, this time seen by Dr. Patel as she mourns Corby’s death. “Ah, a great blue heron—a male, I think, perhaps the father of the family we watched last year” (438), she reflects, linking the bird to memory, fatherhood, and continuity. Its reappearance in her section ties Corby’s story to a larger natural rhythm, emphasizing that while individual lives may end, their emotional impact ripples forward.