Twisted

Yasmin’s camera becomes a symbol for her emerging self-realization as she returns, with Julian’s support, to what was a hobby and passion of her childhood. The camera allows Yasmin to look at the world from a safely mediated distance that shields her from feeling social anxiety around new people.

Photographs also represent a way to hold on to the past while moving to the next stage of life. Yasmin tells Julian, “Photographs help us remember things we’d otherwise forget” (193). When she finds her shoebox of photographs, they remind her of cherished moments from her history—events she will keep in her mind after marriage.

Finally, photography is a symbol of connection. Yasmin first photographs Riya to capture an image of her best friend, and later, snaps a picture of Julian that reveals her interest and growing care for him. When Yasmin brings her camera to Egypt, it signifies that she has become comfortable with expressing her true self, which allows her to confess her love for Julian. In turn, he adds a darkroom to their house at the end as evidence of his care, his wish to make her happy, and his desire for her to be her true self within their marriage, pursuing this passion.

Julian’s staff is the symbol of his power and his willingness to harm others in pursuit of his goals. The staff is inspired by weapons he saw being used at the hapkido dojo he attended as a child, where his experimenting with the staff was an attempt to learn how defend himself against his parents’ abuse. As an adult, Julian has a custom-made staff that can be collapsed to fit within a suit jacket. It is metal, and therefore useful in inflicting injuries. When tucked away, the staff represents the side of Julian’s nature that he keeps hidden from larger view. Julian regards the staff as an extension of himself, proof that he will never again be subject to another’s control and at the mercy of any pain they might inflict on him.

Isabella, a 23-foot-long python, is an extension of Julian’s darker impulses. Snakes are a longstanding symbol in myths, literature, and other cultural production; they are typically associated with evil, threat, danger, and temptation.

Isabella marks Julian’s passage into adulthood in two ways. She was a gift from Julian’s father, who imparted a lesson to 16-year-old Julian: Snakes are powerful because they are feared—a strategy Julian adopted for pursuing power. Isabella doesn’t merely evoke terror, however: The snake is also a participant in Julian’s violence. After using Isabella to dispose of his father’s body after he beat him to death, Julian’s made the snake a tool for getting rid of other people he murdered, erasing his crimes and keeping his conscience clear. (Full-grown reticulated pythons have been known to attack and swallow humans, so this method of cleanup is feasible for the story.) Because of her role in his pursuit of ambition and power, Julian feels affection for Isabella, calling her “the most important living being in my life” (96) and “my closest confidante, my partner in crime” (212). Isabella represents the cold-blooded, amoral part of Julian that kills anything he views as a threat or as prey.