Grandma's Body
Grandma Kurnitz is a woman who Simon describes as a big woman because of her strength. Also, she walks with a cane and one foot dragging. This imagery shows us that Grandma is not a typical woman of 70, but instead she is a strong woman who has endured much, which is reflected in her body and her physical bearing.
The Black Studebaker
While we never see it, we hear from Jay and Arty's conversations that there is a black Studebaker that comes by the house sometimes, carrying two men who are looking for Uncle Louie. The image that the boys conjure of the car is a menacing one, and the black Studebaker comes to be a kind of angel of death: a threat to Louie's wellbeing, and a symbol of the fact that he runs in some corrupt and scary circles.
Behind Closed Doors
In the opening of the play, we see Arty and Jay alone on stage while their father meets with Grandma behind closed doors. It is a while before the audience is actually introduced to Grandma, and the image of the closed door creates some suspense around her entrance. In combination with the way Jay and Arty talk about her, the closed door creates the impression that Grandma is a frightening character. While she is out of sight, the audience must access their own imagination to consider how bad she can possibly be.
Picture Perfect
Bella has brought the family together for dinner in order to tell them she wants their blessing to get married. She says that she had a picture in her mind as to how the conversation was going to happen and she imagined Louie sitting down and not standing, which leads to an argument between them. Her attachment to and fixation on how the family will be arranged on the stage, contrasted with the disapproving way they respond to her news, reflects how, in a broader sense, life often isn't the perfect picture we hold in our minds. Bella becomes unmoored and distressed by the discrepancy between her image of how things would go (as reflected in the physical attributes of the room and her family members), especially as she realizes she will not get her family's blessing.
