44 pages • 1 hour read
Emma DonoghueThe Wonder
Emma DonoghueFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was an English social reformer and the founder of modern nursing. As Lib Wright’s teacher, she is an invisible but important presence, reflecting the strict, scientific nature of modern medicine. In Chapter 1, Wright correctly guesses that she was hired because, as a Nightingale, she can “give some credence to the O’Donnells’ mad story” (16). This suggests the prestige of Nightingale’s name.
Throughout the novel, Wright refers to Nightingale’s book Notes on Nursing in the same way that Anna refers to the Bible and her prayer book: As a source of wisdom, and of comfort. The most significant of Nightingale’s precepts was that nurses “weren’t allowed to follow the prompts of the heart—to take a quarter of an hour, for instance, to sit with a dying man and offer a word of comfort” (108). Breaking this precept by bonding with Anna allows Wright to correctly identify the reason for her fast, and to convince her to break it. Ultimately, the novel suggests that strict obedience to medical procedure is not always in the best interest of the patient. As the novel progresses, Wright’s identity as “a Nightingale” becomes less important to her, mirroring her growing intimacy with Anna and Byrne.
The Rag Tree at the Holy Well
For Wright, the tree and nearby tiny pool that she discovers while hiking are a symbol of rural Ireland’s wild nature, and the foreignness of local customs. The fabric strips had “been knotted onto the tree for so long, they were grey and vegetal” (86). The water in the pool “looked as black as the peaty soil […] and had a whiff like creosote” (86). The rugged state of the tree and pool reflect how they belong to the wilderness.
Anna later tells Wright that the tree and “holy well” have healing powers. Locals dip rags into the water, rub them onto ailing body parts, and tie the rags onto the tree—“the badness stays on the rag, and you leave it behind. Once it rots away, what was ailing you will be gone too” (176). For Anna, the rag tree at the holy well is a symbol of God’s miraculous power. Initially, Wright dismisses Anna’s explanation as a “cunning legend.”
In the final chapter, the rag tree is the site of Wright and Byrne’s final meeting before they steal Anna away. Wright admits that she “saw the point of such superstition now. If there was a ritual she could perform that offered a chance of saving Anna, wouldn’t she try it?” (260). This mirrors Wright’s growing acceptance of Ireland and Catholicism.
Anna’s Thaumatrope
Anna O’Donnell receives many visitors hoping to witness her miraculous fast. Early in the novel, an American spiritualist visiting from Boston gives her a thaumatrope, a popular 19th-century optical toy featuring a stringed disk with a different image on each side. To play with the thaumatrope, “twist the disc’s two strings, then twirl it, so the pictures on the two sides [are] blurred into one” (77). Anna’s thaumatrope contains a picture of a bird on one side and a cage on the other, so that, while spinning, it seems like the bird is in the cage.
The thaumatrope is intended as an offering to Anna and acts as a symbol of her holy nature and her visitors’ belief in the fast. For Wright, however, the thaumatrope becomes a symbol of Anna herself. Like Anna, the optical toy challenges Wright’s understanding of reality—“the songbird was on one side, the cage on the other, yet when Lib twirled its strings as fast as she could, her senses were tricked and two incompatible things became one: a vibrating, humming caged bird” (174).
The vibrant nature of the bird mirrors Anna’s vitality even in the midst of the fast. Wright ultimately feels compelled to free Anna, a caged bird, from what she sees as the restrictive prison of her home and family.
Unlock all 44 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Emma Donoghue
