Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
When Mr. Hooft tells Reese about his time in a children's camp during World War II, he explains how a plant served as a symbol of life and hope:
"It was closed tight during the day, but at night it opened up and somehow I thought the flower was like me. Afraid to speak when I was around the guards, always scared that I would do something wrong and they would hurt me. But at night I would lie on my cot, and I would dream about other things. About our home in Java, about my mother. And when I took my mind away from how miserable I felt, things became better for me. I would be out in the fields digging a ditch or piling up rocks around the wells—the Japanese had us doing that a lot—but I would think about that flower and I would worry about it and be anxious for it to be all right when I returned to the hut. It wasn't much, but it was better than stewing in my own juices." (24.65)
There's no jasmine growing in the juvenile prison, unfortunately, but Mr. Hooft's story helps Reese understand that he needs to focus on something outside of his own grim surroundings in order to survive. For Reese, that something is Icy, his little sister.