New England imagery
The imagery of the setting is doubled by the references to New England's history, especially the historical conflicts between the Europeans and the Native Americans. Even John Smith's name is a reference to this imagery, and his killing is inspired by narratives about New England's history (albeit racially prejudiced narratives that he inherits through racism). The setting is also an imagery that refers to the historical attachment between Native Americans and their land.
Murder and serial killers
Set against the somewhat peaceful, polite setting of New England is the dramatic imagery of murder, death, horror, and the paranoia that riddles the town when they find out that a serial killer has been murdering white people with racial prejudice. The imagery is both concrete and abstract, and in its abstract form, the imagery represents a brokenness in the culture, which the murderer is manifesting or portraying.
Self and identity
Through imagery, we see what has made John Smith such a troubled person. As an orphan, he struggles to self-identify because he is raised by adoptive parents who give him perhaps the whitest name imaginable and tell him a limited version of the cultural narrative that belongs to him through heritage. When he seeks to identify, that broken story comes back to haunt them, because his murdering is an expression of his desire to do the right thing for his ancestors (allegedly; it could be that he is an angry psychopath who hates white people).
Spiritualism and possession
The suggestion is made (as a deus ex machina) that perhaps the Native American spirits are responsible for the murders via possession of a troubled youngster. This imagery is concrete in that there is a literal Native spirit dance where the idea is literally considered, but it is also abstract, because it references the abstract quality of human motivation, suggesting a sublime understanding of human psychology (although one could argue that it does so in a clumsy manner).
