The Body

At the beginning of the story, Ray’s body is a symbol of adventure. It’s a destination and an excuse to leave town for a weekend, albeit a morbid one. When Vern asks them if they want to go to see the body, he simply refers to it as “a dead body.” The closer they get to Ray’s corpse, the more significant it becomes to Gordie. When they actually encounter the body, it symbolizes the end of Gordie’s boyhood. Later, when Gordie remembers the dead boy, he asks himself: “Which boy do you mean?” (161). Ray’s body is a symbol of death, mortality, and coming of age for Gordie and his friends. The body represents a transition in their lives and in their friendships. 

Chopper is the name of Milo’s dog. Before they meet the dog at the dump, they know Chopper only from the lore surrounding him. The stories all say that Chopper is a vicious, cruel dog that loves nothing more than to torture young boys—and that, worse, this is how Milo trained Chopper to be. When they meet Chopper, however, he’s a nondescript mongrel incapable of frightening anyone. Chopper represents the gap between the stories people tell themselves and reality.