52 pages • 1 hour read
Emiko JeanThe Return of Ellie Black
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A 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
Friendship Bracelets
Friendship bracelets are a symbol that represents sisterhood and love. During their captivity, Gabrielle gives Hannah and Ellie friendship bracelets made out of bits of rope. Since Gabrielle used to wear friendship bracelets before West kidnapped her, this gift connects Gabrielle to her past self while also satisfying the girls’ need for hope. West therefore orders the girls to burn their bracelets before he murders Gabrielle, symbolizing how he wants to break their connection.
Ellie’s memories of Gabrielle are connected to the friendship bracelets, which she thinks about constantly. When Chelsey notices that Ellie often rubs one of her wrists, she believes that Ellie must have been restrained. In fact, Ellie rubs her wrists because she remembers her bond of sisterhood with those she left at the compound. Even at the end of the novel, Ellie thinks that “she can still feel it, the friendship bracelet” (294), underscoring that Ellie will never forget the connection she shared with the girls at the compound.
Star
Star, one of the dogs at the compound, is a symbol that represents triumph over adversity. Ellie bonds with Star because he is born into the environment of West’s violence. Although Ellie does not have any ulterior motives in befriending Star, her gentleness with Star eventually saves her life. Star refuses to listen to West but reacts to Ellie’s whistle and mauls West to save Ellie, demonstrating the possibility of not living under West’s authoritarian control anymore. Since West abused them for so long, Ellie and the other girls started to believe that he was invincible, which Star’s attack exposes as a lie. The fact that Star chose to listen to Ellie over West also reveals the power of love over abuse. West believes that he can control everyone with brute force, but Ellie’s gentleness and commitment to loving those around her lead to West’s downfall.
University of Washington Sweatshirt
The University of Washington sweatshirt is a symbol of Ellie’s guilt, developing The Psychological Impact of Trauma. The sweatshirt belongs to Gabrielle and connects Ellie to Gabrielle even after Gabrielle’s murder. When West murders Gabrielle, Lydia gives the sweatshirt to Ellie. Ellie wears the sweatshirt in remembrance of Gabrielle but also uses it to comfort Willa, as when she stops the bleeding on Willa’s face when she first gets to the compound; this use of the sweatshirt mirrors how Ellie’s guilt over Gabrielle’s death drives her protectiveness of Willa. When Ellie returns to her old life, she wears the sweatshirt to remind herself of both Gabrielle and Willa and thus to fulfill her promise to kill Governor Pike to save Willa. The sweatshirt carries the weight of all the emotional trauma that Ellie carries with her, yet Chelsey uses the sweatshirt to investigate both Ellie and Gabrielle’s disappearances, as she realizes that the two girls must have known each other. This repurposing of the sweatshirt for good ends evokes the possibility of forgiveness and healing.
Queen Anne’s Lace
Queen Anne’s lace is a symbol that represents autonomy and free will. Gabrielle introduces the seeds of the plant to Ellie as a contraceptive. Since the girls know that West wants them to become pregnant, the seeds are a way of fighting back against West’s abuse. As the girls bond and become friends, Ellie believes that they should plant the seeds so that they do not run out. Although the girls know that the plan is dangerous, they decide to do it anyway as an act of free will; Ellie remembers their act of rebellion as the last time that she felt that they might escape, signaling the moment’s symbolic importance. When West discovers the plants in the forest, he forces Hannah, Ellie, and Gabrielle to burn the seeds along with their friendship bracelets. After they do so, West pits the girls against each other, finally causing Ellie to break down and betray Gabrielle. After the police discover Gabrielle’s body, the lab finds remnants of Queen Anne’s lace in her bloodstream, which symbolizes Gabrielle’s brave effort to retain her autonomy and dignity to the end.
