The Gardener
In this short story, the character of the gardener is the most significant symbol. He is a representation of Christ, who offers guidance and compassion to Helen during her time of need. Overall, the gardener symbolizes the compassion, kindness, and acceptance of Christianity. This is shown through the fact that the gardener seemingly understands that Helen has lied about Michael being her nephew, and still treats her with compassion. As such, the gardener represents an ideal to which people should strive towards, which is an attitude of forgiveness, sympathy, and acceptance.
The cemetery
Helen first visits the cemetery and is met with "a merciless sea of black crosses, bearing little strips of stamped tin at all angles across their faces. She could distinguish no order or arrangement in their mass." As such, the cemetery is depicted as chaotic and disordered, which represents how Helen is struggling to find her way and feels lost after the death of her son. Significantly, it is the gardener who helps Helen find the grave, saying "come with me... and I will show you where your son lies." In this story, the gardener is Christ, which represents how Christ offers guidance in times of uncertainty and loss.
Munitions
Helen describes how the process of mourning and grief during the war is similar to the process at a munitions factory: "Once, on one of Michael’s leaves, he had taken her over a munition factory, where she saw the progress of a shell from blank-iron to all but the finished article. It struck her at the time that the wretched thing was never left alone for a single second; and “I’m being manufactured into a bereaved next of kin,” she told herself, as she prepared her documents." Here, Helen is suggesting something about how manufactured people's attitudes to grief were during World War I. This is due to the fact that people became so used to loss, which meant that the approach towards residents who had lost someone became robotic.
Michael's mouth
Helen says that Michael "had his father's mouth to a line; which made something to build upon." She says this to justify the fact that she is looking after her brother's illegitimate child. However, Michael truly has the same mouth as his grandfather because he is Helen's child. Helen uses aspects of Michael's appearance, including his mouth, to argue that he is a "Turrell all over," and to convince everyone that he is George's son.
