Locomotion

As a motif, the sun represents warmth and comfort, and it helps develops the theme of The Search for Identity and Belonging. In an early memory, Lonnie describes sitting with Lili on his lap and his mother telling him that he’d always be her baby. He notes, “Just me and Lili and Mama and the pigeons. / And outside the sun / getting bright and warm suddenly” (6). His recollections in this moment are of both his mother’s love and the bright, warm, sun, which links the sun to a sense of comfort, safety, and belonging. This sense is amplified later, when in his lowest moments, Lonnie can’t see the sun. When asked to write a poem about family, Lonnie can’t:

I aint’ got nothing to say today.

Just feel like sitting here

Watching the rain come down

and down

            and

                down (50).

The lack of light and warmth outside mirrors Lonnie’s melancholy, which he emphasizes by evoking the repetitive sound of rain falling. As Lonnie works through his grief and finds love and acceptance from himself and others, the sun shines more regularly. In a visit with Lili at her adoptive mother’s house, he notes, “With the sun coming in the room that way / and my sister smiling so big / […] / I feel Him, right there beside us” (76). Lonnie’s writing often reveals that he perceives God as a benevolent being who looks down on humanity with love. Because Lonnie senses God as he sits with his sister and because he feels the warmth of the sun, both the deity and the star symbolize safety and comfort. Lonnie is where he longs to be, with his sister, and the repeated image of the sun marks both comfort and a sense of belonging.