61 pages • 2 hours read
Joyce McdonaldSwallowing Stones
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Swallowing Stones
The titular motif of swallowing stones is introduced in Chapter 3, as Michael observes some girls at the pool and remembers a story about a local girl who drowned. In this story, the girl and her friend had been diving for stones to carry to the surface with their mouths, and “a small stone had lodged in the girl’s windpipe, choking her to death” (38). Michael recalls thinking “that if she had only swallowed the stone, maybe she would have lived, but she had probably panicked and inhaled it” (38). The story of the girl at the lake establishes the imagery of swallowing stones as a motif for The Consequences of Impulsive Actions.
Michael’s initial interpretation of this story and how he applies it to his situation is that he must continue to swallow stones to keep moving through the hard part of his guilt and shame. When his father offers him the car, Michael must lie about passing his driver’s exam, calling it “just another stone he had to swallow” (45). However, as Michael avoids accountability and evades the consequences of his actions, he finds that he has not saved himself any trouble. Michael realizes in Chapter 25 that “he has been carrying the stone in his throat all this time. He hasn’t swallowed it at all, and he is drowning” (240). Michael’s realization that he has not been swallowing stones this entire time but rather allowing himself to drown in his mistakes cements the image of swallowing stones as a motif for The Consequences of Impulsive Actions. Michael must face the consequences or risk drowning with the stone in his throat, wreaking havoc on his personal life.
At the end of the novel, as Michael waits with dread for Jenna to wake up so he can confess to killing her father, Michael acknowledges that “this is what swallowing stones is all about” (245). Michael understands he must do something difficult to prevent worse outcomes from arising from his mistakes, and he relates this to the image of swallowing stones.
The Ghost Tree
The Ghost Tree is an old sycamore at the Great Swamp—a local public natural area. For Jenna and Michael, the Ghost Tree symbolizes acceptance. Both Jenna and Michael fight through their story arcs with denial. While Michael clings to any evidence or information that might suggest he’s not responsible for the shooting, Jenna spends six weeks after her father’s death waiting for him to come home from work, despite knowing it won’t happen. In her dreams, she fights the vines attempting to take her to the ghost tree, symbolizing her struggle toward accepting her father is dead.
The Ghost Tree also symbolizes acceptance for Michael. In Chapter 18, when Michael and Joe go to the Great Swamp so Michael can break the news to Joe about how Joe has become a prime suspect, they walk past the Ghost Tree but do not stop under it. Michael walking past and acknowledging the Ghost Tree yet choosing not to visit it during a time when stakes have increased dramatically for both him and Joe symbolizes Michael’s acknowledgment that he knows he must eventually accept the consequences of his actions to protect Joe from taking his punishment. However, Michael is not yet ready to accept these consequences, so he avoids the tree.
In the final chapter, both Michael and Jenna visit the tree, symbolizing how both have come to accept the things that have haunted them since the tragedy. Jenna chooses to visit the tree after seeing it in her dreams for weeks. She finally “understands that her mind has been trying to show her a way in which to begin to heal herself” (243). Jenna’s choice to visit the tree symbolizes her decision to accept her father’s death so she can begin to heal. Michael chooses to visit the tree as well on this same night. As Michael follows the trail to the Ghost Tree, he realizes he is testing his courage. For Michael, acceptance of his part in Charlie Ward’s death means also accepting the consequences that come with it—consequences that could potentially ruin his bright future. Michael knows it will take courage to face these consequences, and he tests this courage by visiting the Ghost Tree. Michael’s visit to the Ghost Tree with his rifle, ready to confess to the shooting, symbolizes Michael’s acceptance of his responsibility for what happened. By visiting the tree, Michael is accepting the consequences and taking accountability.
Dreams
The symbolic meaning of dreams is established for both Jenna and Michael, and Jenna’s symbolic dreams play a significant role in her journey to accept and process her grief. Chapter 6 describes Jenna’s dreams for the first time, depicting a scene in which vines attempt to drag Jenna toward the Ghost Tree, which holds its own symbolic meaning. Jenna tugs against the vines “with all her strength. She would not go to this place” (62). In her waking life, Jenna struggles to accept that her father has died, and her denial clouds her ability to grieve properly. Jenna’s dream symbolizes her inability to accept her father’s death, with the Ghost Tree symbolizing this acceptance.
As Jenna’s grieving journey continues, Jenna observes that after six weeks, she “still could not make herself believe that [her father] wouldn’t be coming home […] and all the logic in the world could not make Jenna stop holding on to her fantasy” (135). However, shortly after, Jenna reads the letter from Amy and begins to cry over her father for the first time, showing how Amy’s letter has helped Jenna acknowledge her grief. Jenna’s dreams symbolize this progress for Jenna. After reading Amy’s letter, Jenna dreams that “Amy was guiding her right toward the Ghost Tree, and Jenna wasn’t doing anything to stop her” (140). Amy’s presence in Jenna’s dream symbolizes how Amy’s letter helped Jenna begin to break through her denial and mourn her father.
In Jenna’s later dreams, she begins to see her father and Michael MacKenzie at the Ghost Tree. These dreams symbolize the connection between the three of them and eventually guide Jenna toward the Ghost Tree in her waking life, where she is to hear Michael’s confession upon waking at the end of the novel.
Michael, too, has a symbolic dream. In Chapter 9, Michael dreams he is the bullet that killed Charlie Ward. Michael’s dream symbolizes the guilt he feels about taking Charlie Ward’s life. Michael, at first, doesn’t realize he’s the bullet, symbolizing how he initially doesn’t realize he’s killed a man. However, when he begins to fall back to earth, he realizes that he’s flying toward a man’s head and cannot stop it. Michael’s dream represents how out of control he feels to fix what he’s done and the guilt that is slowly building within him.
