57 pages • 1 hour read
Isabel IbañezWhat the River Knows
Fiction | Novel | YA | 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
The Gold Ring
The ring Cayo Olivera sends to Inez serves as a motif of The Perils of Extending and Withholding Trust. The artifact is described as a “golden ring [that fits] around [Inez’s] littlest finger” (4), and its cartouche displays Cleopatra’s name in hieroglyphs: “the resting lion, falcon and feather, staff, and the shen ring encircling the symbols, offering eternal protection for the person named within” (68). Cayo finds the ring in Cleopatra’s burial chamber, a site eagerly sought by his wife and his brother-in-law. However, Ricardo and Lourdes lost his trust after he learned his wife was having an affair and involved in smuggling. He therefore withholds his discovery from them and sends the ring to his daughter. In reality, Ricardo is innocent of his sister’s misdeeds and may have proven a valuable ally if Cayo had confided in him.
Cayo demonstrates great trust in Inez by sending her the ring, but he withholds key information from her about the ring’s importance until Chapter 31, when he sends her a letter urging her to safeguard the ring and beware of her mother: “I must protect everything I hold dear from her vile hands. Which is one of the reasons I sent you the golden ring, querida” (337). Because this information is withheld from her until late in the novel, Inez doesn’t take adequate precautions to prevent the ring’s theft. She also inadvertently helps her mother steal from Cleopatra’s tomb, the very crime that Cayo sought to prevent. The golden ring illustrates the importance of choosing one’s confidantes carefully.
Cleopatra’s Tomb
Cleopatra’s tomb is a motif of the theme of Power Dynamics and Colonialism. As befits the resting place of such a significant ruler, her burial chamber is ornately adorned and filled with priceless objects: “Beautiful scarabs decorated the walls, their wings spread wide. Hundreds of statues surrounded the three sarcophagi, many of strange animals” (317). However, there are those who view the tomb simply as a source of profit and do not respect its long and rich history. Cleopatra’s burial chamber is hidden in the temple of Isis, a structure that bears the marks of Roman conquerors and explorers: “Several depictions and hieroglyphics had been destroyed, whole sections ruined. It was hard to fathom, hard to look at without feeling a keen sense of loss” (202). The foreigners marked the temple’s walls to stake their claim to the site just as they sought to lay claim to Egypt’s riches. The tomb becomes central to the novel’s plot and conflict when Lourdes involves Inez in her schemes to smuggle artifacts from the burial chamber and auction them off to foreign buyers. Lourdes is not the only antagonist searching for the tomb. In a gruesome example of colonialism’s impact, Basil Sterling, who works in the British government as an antiquities official, seeks to desecrate and ingest Cleopatra’s mummy. Cleopatra’s tomb advances the theme of colonialism because those who seek to protect it must contend against predatory forces that seek to exploit the site.
Roses
Roses symbolize Cleopatra. Inez experiences the flowers’ distinctive taste when she comes into contact with traces of the pharaoh’s magic. One such magic-touched object is the golden ring: “The moment I touched it, my fingers had tingled, a burning current had raced up my arm, and my mouth had filled with the taste of roses” (4). The taste of roses moves the plot forward by guiding the protagonist to key objects and locations connected to Cleopatra, including her burial chamber. Roses play into the protagonist’s natural curiosity and encourage the her to explore. The vision Inez has when she finds the trinket box further emphasizes the association between the flowers and Cleopatra: “She wore pearls and smelled like roses; on her feet were gilded sandals adorned with jewels” (91). Inez’s ability to see and taste Cleopatra’s memories suggest that there is a mysterious connection between her and the last pharaoh. The novel hints at this link when Whit kisses Inez while they’re trapped in the tomb and asks, “Did you know you taste like roses?” (375). The details of the connection between the protagonist and the ancient ruler may be explained in more detail in the next book. The symbol of roses adds to the novel’s intrigue, the protagonist’s characterization, and the story’s magic system.
