The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Symbols & Motifs

Eyes and Vision

Eye color is a defining physical characteristic. Listed on driver’s licenses, passports, and dating apps, the hue of a person’s eye holds an almost archetypal significance and is culturally tied to identity. For Sam, eyes symbolically relate to his self-regard, and his eye color defines him from birth as exceptional, different, and even devilish. Though eye color doesn’t indicate visual impairment (let alone personality), the stigma of Sam’s red eyes eventually stops him from “seeing” his own worth. The first time someone mocks Sam for his eye color, he prays the color will change: “That night I dreamed of a black crow with a sharp beak pecking at my eyes” (41). Though Sam doesn’t experience vision problems until high school, he becomes disillusioned with his outward appearance. Eventually, his aversion to his physical body becomes a deeper self-hatred.

Sam’s pursuit of ophthalmology is symbolic, as if helping others’ physical eyesight might somehow redeem his own spiritual vision. Throughout the narrative, Sam refers to his mother’s detailed scrapbook, a visual representation of Sam’s life: “The photographs are also in the scrapbook and, ironically, everyone in them has red eyes from the flash of the bulb” (188). Madeline wishes Sam could see himself as she does, but his only desire is to look like everyone else. Even after he uses contacts to conceal his eye color, his life does not dramatically change, but when he meets Fernando and sees his own eyes reflected to him, Sam’s internal vision is corrected. He washes away the contacts, symbolizing a restored self-regard. Madeline was right all along; Sam’s eyes were a gift allowing him to see beauty in uniqueness.

Bells

Like eyes, bells are a multifaceted symbol and touch on many ideas in the novel, but they often symbolize Sam’s connection to his past and his origins. The church bells’ ringing early in the narrative reminds Sam of his father, causing Sam to change his mind about having a vasectomy. In the narrative structure, the bells are also a device signaling a shift from the present to the past. The church bells remind Sam of his Catholic upbringing, but mostly they remind him of his mother and her steadfast faith. Just as the bells ring regularly without fail signaling the hour, the memory of Madeline’s encouraging, constant hope rings in his mind.

Bells sometimes relate to painful times, as when David destroys Sam’s bike with a baseball bat: “He saved the final blow for the bell. It died with a sorrowful clang” (101). At church and school, bells’ sonorous vibration often accompanies Sam’s solitude and sorrow—but when Ernie rings the liturgical bells to save Sam from embarrassment, the sound reminds him he is not alone. Sam hears hope in Fernando’s laugh, and the bells ring again for belief in a future full of joy: “Fernando giggled, a sound as pure and true as the chimes of the bells that rang from the steeple of Our Lady of Mercy” (382). For Sam, the church symbolizes the seat of his inner turmoil where he wrestles with faith and trusting God, but the bells signify a promise. Just as his mother’s love never leaves him, the bells remain a constant, their ringing drawing him back into belief.

The Falcon

The Ford Falcon, a muscle car made to go fast and dazzle onlookers, is symbolically connected to Sam’s coming of age as well as his memories. It also represents part of his mother: While Max buys it to restore, it quickly becomes Madeline’s car, its vivacious speed and thrum emblematic of her personality (meanwhile, Max is content to drive the family station wagon). When Sam accompanies Madeline to the mechanic for the Falcon’s oil change, he experiences a profound change in the way he sees his mother in the seat of the car. After a day at school hiding from David Bateman’s harassment, Sam rushes to the safety of the Falcon, secure in its doors and under his mother’s shadow: “I spotted my salvation. My mother sat in the blue Falcon with the top down” (82). In gifting it to Sam for his 16th birthday, she gives him a part of herself. Sam has his first kiss with Mickie in the Falcon, and it’s where he has his first sexual encounter with Donna. It becomes a family heirloom when Sam decides it will be Fernando’s.

The car is a part of every memory Sam has in his life. It carries him physically but also emotionally through all the highs and lows of his journey: “The Falcon was leaking oil and the transmission slipped, but like my mother’s rosary beads, I would never get rid of it” (426). It is as dependable as his mother’s affection and reminds him of the beauty that was the Hill family. As the novel closes, Sam, Mickie, and Fernando drive up in front of the church to honor the Blessed Mother, the Falcon itself an offering to the past and a vehicle to carry them into the future.