Death of the Author

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, ableism, and mental illness.

The dead tree is a symbol of the flawed nature of the physical world. Zelu climbs the tree as a child while playing games with her friends. Due to her arrogance, Zelu believes that she can use the tree to her advantage in the game. After waiting in the tree for some time, the branch she is standing on snaps, which sends her falling to the ground and causes her paraplegia.

After she returns home from the hospital, Zelu learns that the tree has been cut down—it had already died and become infested with beetles. Zelu had only considered its external appearance when considering its safety, while the interior of the tree revealed its true state of being. This sparks contemplation within Zelu as she comes to wonder how much the body reveals the truth of a person. Her own novel drives the debate of whether the physical form is truly necessary or if a person is better represented by their abstract qualities. In Chapter 20, she refers to the tree as a “beautiful tree” when telling the story to Hugo. This hints that the tree’s aesthetic value still remains in her mind, despite the consequences that its dead state caused.