The Mirror

Clover’s playlist is a key motif and symbol in the text, illustrating the themes of The Interplay Between Past and Present and The Power of Love and Courage. Throughout the novel, Clover, the “house DJ,” plays occasion-appropriate songs on devices. The songs serve many purposes, including acknowledging a character’s words or thoughts and delivering warnings. For instance, on one occasion Clover blares out “Thunder” by AC/DC to warn Sonya and the others that Dobbs is about to act up. At another point, she plays TobyMac’s “Love is in the House” to indicate that she likes Sonya and her friends filling up the house with love and laughter.

Clover’s DJ-ing provides whimsy and humor to the narrative as well as illustrating Clover’s love and benevolence for Sonya and the others. The music is Clover’s way of telling the living inhabitants that they are watched over and cared for by ancestral forces, and so it becomes, for Sonya and her friends, a symbol of comfort and protection. Further, Clover’s playlist is a counter to Dobbs’s spooky noises: the slamming of doors and the wheezing of winds. The music can be seen as Clover’s way of reclaiming the house and making herself heard: The sounds don’t just belong to Dobbs but to all the inhabitants of the manor.