In this passage, Julie Otsuka uses the rhetorical device of symbolism to relate the material nature of the Mother’s key to the sacredness of her fading memories. This key eventually facilitates the long-awaited homecoming of the family, yet until this point its purpose embodies an immaterial significance. The phrase, “The key had become part of her. It was always there, a small, dark shape, dangling,” parallels the key’s palpable attributes with its symbolic meaning (107). Just as the small, dark key clings by a single thread from the Mother’s neck so do her fuzzy, slowly fleeting memories of home. As time passes at the internment camp her memories grow hazy and hope of returning home dissipates. Nevertheless, her possession of the key offers
