52 pages • 1 hour read
White Smoke
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Symbols & Motifs
Photos and Videos
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of addiction, substance use, racism, graphic violence, and mental illness.
Photographs and videos are a motif in the novel that supports Community Memory and Its Generational Impact. In particular, they help Marigold learn the truth about Maplewood and the ghostly goings-on in her family’s house. More than the sights and sounds Marigold experiences during the day and night, which always have an element of doubt (since she may be half-asleep or dreaming), photos and video help solve the mysteries as real and tangible pieces of proof. For example, Eden Kruger is a board member of the Sterling Foundation, but as evidenced by the family photo on Reverend Clark’s set, Marigold learns she is also Reverend Clark’s daughter. Reverend Clark peddles the scam of “holy” seeds to Maplewood residents, collecting their donations in exchange for sending the seeds that will supposedly absolve their sins. This moneymaking scam contributes to residents’ socioeconomic struggles, which indirectly benefits the moneymaking goals of the Foundation.
Videos and photos of Devil’s Night don’t seem to exist when Marigold looks for them on social media. Her friend, Tamara, comes through, explaining that Instagram footage of the burnings only seems to exist outside of Cedarville. This makes it impossible for Maplewood residents to have a wide-frame perspective and complete understanding of this activity. Marigold sees the full horror of Devil’s Night with the images Tamara sends.
Photos are also important when Yusef reveals the Peoples family’s story to Marigold. Before he shares the tale of the burning of Jon Jon’s house, he uses Pop Pop’s old photo to show Marigold what her home used to look like when Joe and Carmen Peoples lived there. He wants Marigold to see her block the way the older generations remember it. This contrasts with its current dilapidated state, which makes more of an emotional impact and leads her to understand how it came to pass.
Bedbugs
Marigold’s extreme phobia of bedbugs is a motif throughout the novel. Her fear symbolizes her inability to gain control over facets of her life like her marijuana addiction, The Dynamics and Challenges Within Blended Families, and the judgment others hold over her as a person recovering from substance abuse. The fear started with a real bedbug infestation before Raquel and Chay divorced, which resulted in the loss of possessions like clothing and mattresses. To fight her delusional parasitosis, Marigold entered therapy, started wearing white or light-colored clothing, and trimmed her possessions to only a few things. However, the fear drove her addiction to Percocet, and though she later recovered from that addiction, nothing has eliminated her phobia of bedbugs.
When Marigold fears bedbugs at Yusef’s house, she runs home to shower in hot water; when she sees coffee grounds in the couch cushions, she experiences a panic attack. As Marigold comes of age through the terrifying events of the novel’s later rising action, she faces a personal test. She must demonstrate increased courage to move a bedbug-infested mattress to save Piper. Several horror stories feature insects or spiders because they tend to prey on audiences’ fears; movies like Mimic, Arachnophobia, and Them! and novels like AJ Colucci’s The Colony are examples. That bedbugs impact Marigold’s mental health, especially as she recovers from addiction, helps to develop the theme of Using the Horror Lens to Explore and Amplify Societal Issues.
Piper’s Imaginary Friend
Piper meets Ms. Suga (Carmen Peoples), who is living in the basement of the family’s new house. Ms. Suga plays an important role in the plot as she “haunts” the house. However, she also serves as a symbol of the disconnection and doubts the family members occasionally feel toward each other, propelling The Dynamics and Challenges Within Blended Families. Piper chats with Ms. Suga and even provides her with food and a place to sleep in her bedroom closet. These activities are unknown to the family, however, and when Piper tries to talk about the person she sees in the house, Raquel and Alec assume she has an imaginary friend. Marigold, however, suspects that Piper’s imaginary friend is an evil force or a ghost determined to hurt them.
Piper enjoys Ms. Suga’s company because few others seem to like her. Consequently, when Ms. Suga wants Marigold to leave the home, Piper wants her gone as well. Marigold finds these messages disturbing while Raquel and Alec dismiss them. That Piper, Marigold, and the parents all hold conflicting views of who or what Ms. Suga is emphasizes the challenges they face living in a newly blended family.
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By Tiffany D. Jackson
