Symbolism

Your exam question asks you to focus on the symbols found in the short story “The Jam Maker” by Huma Qureshi. 

Biblical symbols

First of all, the story is rich in biblical symbols. The woods where the narrator and her father pick fruits could be considered symbolic of the Garden of Eden, especially since the woods play such a significant role during the narrator’s period of childhood innocence. In this way, the father, with his close connection to nature, can be considered to represent God. We can see this especially when the narrator walks through the woods after her father’s death:

I spent more and more time alone, roaming in the woods. I felt my father in the blades of grass, in the thick of the undergrowth, in the papery wings of the butterflies and the fallen feathers of the birds and the rough bark of the trees. (ll. 82-84)

The father’s close association with nature causes the narrator to feel his presence in the w...