58 pages • 1 hour read
Tananarive DueThe Reformatory: A Novel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A 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
Boots
Robbie’s boots symbolize his coming-of-age journey, as well as his attempt to liberate himself from the racist violence of Gracetown and the Reformatory. Robbie receives his boots from his father in the first chapter of the novel, though he complains that they are too big for him to wear. He does not realize that his older sister, Gloria, has deliberately ordered him a larger pair so that he can grow into the boots. Robbie, struggling to fit into his new boots, wears them anyway on his way to school. When Lyle McCormack harasses his sister, Robbie kicks Lyle with the boots. This act signifies that his growth is inevitably tied to the events surrounding his incarceration at the Reformatory. Robbie is literally not mature enough to fit into his own shoes, but his experience will allow him to grow against the violence that previously caused his father to flee Gracetown.
When Robbie arrives at the Reformatory, Boone takes the rest of Robbie’s soiled clothes to burn them. The boots are the only connection to his father and his life outside the prison. As a result, he hides the boots in his locker because he fears that one of the other boys might try to steal such fine shoes from him. Robbie wants to protect his link to his family as the purest part of his life.
The symbolic meaning of the boots is leveraged to develop the relationship between Robbie and Blue. After Robbie is punished at the Funhouse, he comes back to the locker room and sees a warm piece of cornbread inside his boot. He soon learns that Blue has placed it there to apologize for getting him into trouble. This gesture suggests Blue’s willingness to be Robbie’s friend and reaches through the layer of protectiveness that Robbie has put up to defend himself.
Dust
Dust is a recurring motif in the novel, playing a crucial role in developing The Struggle to Resolve the Past and Preserve the Present as a theme. The novel is careful to distinguish between two types of dust that appear from Part 5 onward. The first kind of dust is the “goofer dust” that Boone uses to trap the haints. The second kind of dust is the ash pile that forms whenever a haint is trapped.
The goofer dust is taken from the soil of graves. The haints are drawn to the goofer dust because it calls them to a place of rest; the haints exist in an extended state of unrest because of the unresolved issues and traumas that led them to their deaths. The dust also points to the hastiness of their burials on Boot Hill. The dead are buried with little to no ceremony and equally little respect.
When the goofer dust is used, the haints dissipate into a pile of ash, as though they are experiencing second death. Warden Haddock collects the ashes into a jar that he keeps with the photographs of the rapes and murders he’s committed. The ash thus serves as evidence of his violation of the dead; he keeps them as trophies rather than to honor the people whose souls he has trapped. Essentially, the haint ash jar is a simulacrum of the Reformatory, asserting not only Haddock’s power over the boys in death but also The Racism of the American Criminal Justice System.
Trumpet
Robbie first uses the trumpet in Chapter 14 when Mrs. Hamilton gives it to him. From then on, it functions symbolically as a second voice for Robbie, speaking out his feelings in a time and place of extreme oppression.
Building on Miz Lottie’s advice to keep his intelligence a secret from the others, Robbie believes that keeping to himself will protect him in the Reformatory. Evidently, his voice gets him into trouble, causing him to be beaten up first by Cleo and later by Haddock and the dorm masters in the Funhouse. When Mrs. Hamilton gives Robbie the trumpet, she praises his natural talent for it. In Chapter 21, she admonishes him for keeping to himself and encourages him to speak up. Though Robbie does not immediately take this advice to heart, putting his feelings into his performances pays off after Redbone is killed.
Mrs. Hamilton encourages Robbie to play so well that Redbone’s soul can hear his grief. He practices long enough that it affects the other boys, prompting Crutcher and Boone to stop him. Due uses Robbie’s trumpet to show that through expression, the human spirit can subvert the powers that seek to repress it. At the burial, Robbie remembers Redbone by calling him his best friend and then plays his trumpet into the open air to signal his grief.
