50 pages • 1 hour read
Love From A to Z
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Symbols & Motifs
Journals
Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to chronic illness, violence, death, racism, and Islamophobia.
Zayneb Malik’s and Adam Chen’s Marvels and Oddities journals are symbolic of self-expression. Both protagonists acquire and start their journals at crucial turning points in their adolescence. Zayneb starts her journal after discovering The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence ancient text when she is 16 and keeps “it going for the next two years, recording the wonders and thorns in the garden of her life” (2). Adam begins his journal after his mom dies and he discovers The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence manuscript at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha when he’s 14. The concept of recording the marvels and oddities of their experiences grants both Zayneb and Adam a way to engage with life’s unexpected joys and “the weird bits of existing” (1). The journals are especially significant to the protagonists, too, because they are both familiar with loneliness, isolation, loss, and pain. Zayneb’s grandmother’s violent death and the Islamophobia she faces at school ignite these challenges in her personal life. Adam’s mother’s death and his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis ignite similar challenges for him. The journals therefore grant the characters a safe space in which to record and sort through their complex emotions.
The Marvels and Oddities journals also create an organic connection between Zayneb and Adam. They are each able to be themselves in the pages of their journals and learn how to translate their private experiences to each other when they bond over their shared journal practices. In Chapter 35, for example, Zayneb reads Adam “the parts [from her journal] that hurt” and the parts “where things felt confusing” (309). By sharing these passages with Adam, she is exposing her true self to him. She is sharing her intimate experiences and allowing herself to be vulnerable. The journals therefore draw the characters together in honest and authentic ways.
Hijab
Zayneb’s hijab is symbolic of her Muslim identity. Because Zayneb believes in the Islamic traditions and teachings she has been raised with, she makes the choice to cover her head and wear a hijab from a young age. The hijab is an external representation of what Zayneb believes and therefore of who she is. Although the hijab is “just like another item of clothing” to Zayneb (124), she also knows that other people judge her for it. Others immediately know that she is Muslim because of her hijab and therefore reject, insult, or intimidate her as a result. In spite of these threats to her safety, Zayneb refuses to stop wearing the hijab. She’s determined to be “loudly, proudly Muslim” (123), no matter the associated risks. The hijab is therefore another way for Zayneb to claim her Muslim identity and to stand up for what she believes in.
Water
Repeated references to and images of water throughout the novel support themes of purity, renewal, and redemption. Water is a motif used to alleviate both Zayneb’s and Adam’s ongoing personal and societal challenges. For example, when Zayneb decides to go swimming in the pool at the gym in Chapter 13, Zayneb immediately starts “feeling [her] way to zen” (109). The water relaxes her and helps to dull her anxieties. This is why she refuses to stop swimming in the pool after various other gymgoers confront her about wearing inappropriate swimwear. The water offers her a sense of peace that she otherwise struggles to find, and she doesn’t want to give up this calming venue just to please others.
Images of water resurface in Chapters 32 and 33 when Zayneb and Adam sit by the beach outside the amphitheater together and talk. They study the ocean ahead of them, consider its beauty, and discuss its metaphoric possibilities. The water grants them a sense of newness and possibility. Indeed, this is the scene in which Zayneb and Adam resolve their differences and discover a new way of communicating. The water before them therefore helps them to heal and to resurrect their original connection.
Goose
The goose that Adam makes for Zayneb is symbolic of courage. When Adam gives Zayneb the handmade gift, he tells her that “[g]eese are protective of their communities” just like Zayneb is of hers (324). Zayneb carries the goose with her when she returns to school in Indiana after spring break. She holds onto the goose in Mr. Fencer’s social science class as she speaks up for herself and defends her beliefs and people. The goose gives her the strength she needs to use her voice and to resist injustice. The goose therefore becomes a totem for Zayneb and a reminder of her empowering connection with Adam, even when they’re apart.
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