Symbols & Motifs

Symbols

Countries

There are two prominent countries that are addressed in the novel.

Nigeria, his first home, naturally symbolizes childhood. Adolescents are naive and dependent. Naivete, the first characteristic of childhood, is found when young Julius sneaks two cokes out of the refrigerator and drinks them in profound daydream. He anticipates that as an adult he will drink coke with “impunity” and reap sweet “vengeance” (312). These romantic expectations of the future never unfold. In fact, old Julius does not like the taste of coke and drinks it rarely. The second characteristic of childhood is dependence, and dependence is always coupled with orders (that are rebelled against at times). In the Nigerian Military School, Julius had strict rules to obey. When he disregarded them and stole a teachers, he was physically punished. However, as a teenager, Julius breaches the law and rapes Moji. This crime, however, he escapes punishment. Some adolescents feel that the rules are designed to be broken, however arguable that claim may be, sometimes they get away clean and other times they are punished. Nigeria represents the struggle of childhood and maturation.

Murica

America, the hope and dream of many foreign immigrants, sadly symbolizes the depressing realities of adulthood. The sad truth of adulthood and America is represented in Saidu. He is a man who struggled to exist in the midst of a war in Africa and working exhaustively, he earned his way to travel to America where he was immediately apprehended in Customs. Ever since his struggle, he has remained detained. Though Saidu remains optimistic, America prevents his hopes of restarting a new and amazing life. This depressing failure to reach expectations is also met by Julius. As a boy he dreamed of a glorious adulthood with freedom. However, now, he does not like the taste of coke, has not sought vengeance, and lives quite idly. His childhood dreams will never be realized because a realistic adulthood prohibits it.

Coke

As an adolescent in Nigeria, Julius was not allowed to drink Coke, unless permitted by his mother. One night after school when she is not home, he sneaks two cokes out of the refrigerator to drink. As he drinks the coke, he visions himself as an adult, consuming coke freely and swears to himself to drink coke “Every blessed day” “with impunity” (133). Julius describes that his oath to himself and the taste of the Coke electrifies him. Yet, when he is an adult, he finds the taste of Coke bland. This contrast between his adolescent self feeling energized and hopeful by the taste of Coke and his adult self bored by the taste of Coke highlights Julius’ overall pessimism and the naive expectations of adulthood. (this is shit)

Bed Bugs

Julius begins his quick fascination with bed bugs after his second to last visit to Dr. Saito. As Julius researches and learns more about Bed Bugs, in an odd sense, he begins to idealize them. In Julius’ perspective, Bed Bugs form and function as the best community. As he states: “They did not discriminate on the basis of social class” (173). Julius perceives the world to be hyper focused on social class -- which is evident in his constant attention to how different ethnicities and cultures interact with each other to determine which is more dominant. Therefore, the Bed Bugs’ lack of regard for social status is appealing to Julius. Furthermore, he describes the creatures as genius and adaptive to the most extreme circumstances. Free from prejudice and discrimination, these ingenious critters represent how Julius feels an idea community should function. (like im sorry what)

Julius’ Father’s funeral

Julius’ father died of disease as a middle aged man. At his funeral, there was no music, games, or alcohol. It was a quiet ceremony. The absence of music, in contrast to the rest of the book, is critical because it highlights the solitude of dead people. Music represents people of a community collaborating and coexisting. The absence of music resembles isolation and solitude. The significance of the lack of music at his father’s funeral is that Cole philosophizes that everyone dies in solitude and everyone is isolated. The funeral symbolizes an unavoidable solitude that Julius believes, everyone meets.

While, simultaneously, the funeral is not for the dead but for the living (TFiOS anyone?). People gather to pay respects for the dead and find comfort with those around them who feel similarly (so loving dead people does have social function. TAKE THAT, Interstellar).

Parachutists

While Julius shares an afternoon in a park with a few friends, two parachutists fall from the sky and provide quite a spectacle for the park-goers. At first the two men resemble birds flying in the sky. However, instead of gliding in the air like birds, the parachutists plummet towards the earth. Once they are planted on the ground, police escort the men out of the park. At a distance, the two men symbolize the potential in human kind of live free from prejudices -- live as the birds do. When the two parachutists are immediately apprehended upon touching the ground, all potential is shattered, and any hope for humans to be accepting diminishes.

This symbol for the human race to reach its potential is characterized when Julius describes life’s fleeting happiness and how humans are so “petty” (146). Hope for humans to rise about social and cultural prejudices is fleeting and will never be attained. Julius believes there is a certain naivete, similar to that found in a child’s expectation of adulthood, to hope  for a world free from discrimination.

Only because terrible people

Motifs

Music

Music, and specifically classical music, is omnipresent in Teju Cole’s novel. In accordance with the overall theme of the book, music represents any community -- and perhaps, in particular, Brooklyn, Brussels, and Nigeria. An avid classical music listener, Julius always points out the different instruments and textures that comprise a single piece. These different layers of a musical composition symbolize the various ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds of people that compose a city. The truly beautiful art, however, is the final product: the song. Incredibly different textures, or differently cultured people, complement each other in ways to synthesize into a song, a functional community. Although, music symbolizes human nature in an incredible light and Julius loves music, he does not live in harmony with the underlying significance of music. Instead, he focuses only on the isolated instruments. Each sound, while it may be beautiful alone, is nothing compared to the beautiful potency of all the instruments combined. He fails to see the whole system to society and community.

Museums

The curious Julius often wanders into many museums in Brussels and in New York. Museums archive the past and encapture Julius’ attention. Not only do they retain the past, but they retain all aspects of the past -- they demonstrate all statuses, cultures, identities, and struggles. So engrossed is he in the past, that during one occasion to a museum he is startled when a body guard asks him to leave for closing hours. The museums are a comment on Julius’ life. He observes and in many cases he seems to be a spectator of life. He travels the easier path. For example, in Brussels when a young and attractive woman shows interest in him, he opts for the easier route and has a one-night stand with a 50 year old. Instead of tirelessly searching for his Oma in Brussels, he gives up. It seems that Julius wastes his energy in developing profound thoughts (but not emotions) and reminiscing, then  has no reserved energy to live life and participate. The museums symbolize how he does not live in the present, but very much in the past.

Birds (perhaps the most important and recurring motif)

Beginning on the first page and ending on the last page, observations and occurrences of birds envelop the entire novel. Julius is enraptured by the migration of birds -- he always hoped “to see miracle of natural immigration” of the birds (4). The birds’ migration is key to what the creatures symbolize. Traveling, specifically different countries, symbolize the colorful ethnicities and cultures that exist globally. The birds, because they travel in a pattern around the world, they are exposed to many cultures and therefore can symbolize the multitude of ethnicities that comprise the world. Flying among various cultured people in a patterned fashion indicates a unity and community about the birds. However, the birds always remain at a distance, mostly in the sky, or in other cases, watching Julius. Their distance underscores their unity and distance from the scrutiny and prejudices toward other cultures that consume earth. The birds bring all the cultures together in harmony and peace, something that humans continually fail to accomplish. As the birds fly in the sky, the look down at people, as see them as insignificant specks in the far distance. This image reiterates Julius’ opinion that humans are petty. At the end of the novel, Cole lists the multitude of deaths of various birds. The death of all these birds symbolizes the collapse of a perfect harmony among cultures. If the birds cannot succeed, nor can humans.

Birds comment on the present and future failure to embrace all cultures and discard all prejudices.