Ellis’s photograph of the two brothers on the porch with a for-sale sign is a symbol of the despair in the Great Depression, how difficult the times were for families, and especially for children who had no voice in their predicament. But the picture that Ellis faked with the Dillards in order to advance his own career becomes a symbol for the poor choice that he made and his quest to undo the consequences of that choice for himself and for the family.

Ellis’s car is a symbol of his desire to be a good reporter and for the success that it will bring to him. His Model-T is an old, used car. The car’s loud engine noise is used in the story to help to demonstrate drowning out Ellis’s guilty conscience, as a signature for Ellis in that Lily knows he is coming because she can hear the car first, and as part of the action because it is the getaway car.

The Model-T is also a link to Ellis’s father, so it symbolizes their bond, even though it is a bond that Ellis shatters when he tells his father that he no longer wants to work on the car.