When You Were Everything

Cleo’s snow globes are symbolic of memory. Cleo has collected the snow globes for years, and each one is attached to a different moment in time or important relationship. Cleo loves the snow globes because when she looks through the glass, “everything [...] appears to be small and clean and pretty” (3). The snow globes therefore suspend the past into neat and definable moments in time. Cleo prefers to maintain control, and she therefore feels anxious and upset when confronted with unexpected circumstances. The same is true of her memories. When they become painful, she tries to control them by erasing or manipulating them. She likes the past to be as orderly as her snow globes.

When Layla Hassan stops speaking to Cleo, Cleo breaks one of her favorite snow globes, illustrating her complicated relationship with her memories and her past. In the morning, she discovers that the floor is “wet and covered in broken glass” (216) and realizes that she accidentally shattered the Peter Pan snow globe that Gigi gave her. This particular snow globe therefore symbolizes Cleo’s childhood memories, and when it breaks, the narrative suggests that Cleo is losing her innocence and beginning to grow beyond her younger self.