Red Sox cap (Symbol)
This cap is a symbol of that thing which helped Trisha to keep calm, to stay balanced, even to escape from the oppressive reality in some way. Trisha takes it on and feels more confident after. Even when she is at the hospital, her last wish before falling asleep is that her father puts this cap on her. Of course this thing wasn’t actually a true helper of her, this support was just in the girl’s mind. But she believed in this symbol, so it helped her and made her strong and brave.
Wandering in the forest (Allegory)
This Trisha’s wandering in the forest reminds the reader the wandering in soul, in mind. Trisha “rakes” all her strong and weak traits, she is gradually understanding her own essence. As well as there are swamps and monsters in her hallucinations, there are the same bad things in her character and personality. She changes after this case: her wandering in the forest brings the result to the other, mentioned, wandering – she changes her mind in some way.
Walkman (Symbol)
Trisha’s MP3 player symbolizes here a kind of connection with the world of people. She hears the voices from it and thus she feels herself alive, it adds some hope for her that she will be saved. The Walkman is like a ray of civilization for her. She falls asleep, listening to it, when she is worried or afraid of something.
Rusty Nail
Trisha’s mother says in the Second Inning, “at least it isn’t a rusty nail”. Later on in Top of the Seventh, a rusty red nail is mentioned in the presence and hands of Tom Gordon. This blurs the line between what is real to Trisha and what is fiction. It represents something she is something to fear or avoid.
