When Kozol went to visit Pietro’s children in the South Bronx, they went to the park and tried in vain to reach some flowers that were growing behind a wire fence. One of the children settled for a dandelion. Flowers symbolize the flourishing of youth, yet the factors that help youth grow are not present in the South Bronx. Instead, youth grow any way they can, and they are much like dandelions, as they have to thrive in places that can be inhospitable.

Jeremy, one of the children Kozol profiles, was attacked when his elevator would not come to the ground floor of his run-down building, and another child died in the elevator shaft of his building. Elevators symbolize the way in which the children in the South Bronx were trying to thrive, but they did not receive help and had no upward mobility; the world around them did not help them rise.

Pietro kept a duck named Oscar in his apartment, even though it was not permitted by the social worker from the welfare department. He tried to hide the duck, but the welfare woman found it and made them give it up. For Pietro, the duck symbolized the little bit of joy he could give his kids, who had to live without the typical diversions and enjoyments of more privileged children.