Locomotion

49 pages • 1 hour read

Locomotion

Fiction | Poem | Published in 2004

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Access Full Guide

Before You Read

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-25

Pages 26-50

Pages 51-74

Pages 75-100

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Sun

As a motif, the sun represents warmth and comfort, and it helps develops the theme of The Search for Identity and Belonging. In an early memory, Lonnie describes sitting with Lili on his lap and his mother telling him that he’d always be her baby. He notes, “Just me and Lili and Mama and the pigeons. / And outside the sun / getting bright and warm suddenly” (6). His recollections in this moment are of both his mother’s love and the bright, warm, sun, which links the sun to a sense of comfort, safety, and belonging. This sense is amplified later, when in his lowest moments, Lonnie can’t see the sun. When asked to write a poem about family, Lonnie can’t:

I aint’ got nothing to say today.

Just feel like sitting here

Watching the rain come down

and down

and

down (50).

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

8,400+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,700+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

The lack of light and warmth outside mirrors Lonnie’s melancholy, which he emphasizes by evoking the repetitive sound of rain falling. As Lonnie works through his grief and finds love and acceptance from himself and others, the sun shines more regularly. In a visit with Lili at her adoptive mother’s house, he notes, “With the sun coming in the room that way / and my sister smiling so big / […] / I feel Him, right there beside us” (76).

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By Jacqueline Woodson

Study Guide

After Tupac and D Foster

Jacqueline Woodson

Study Guide

Another Brooklyn

Jacqueline Woodson

Teaching Guide + Study Guide

Before the Ever After

Jacqueline Woodson

Teaching Guide + Study Guide

Brown Girl Dreaming

Jacqueline Woodson

Plot Summary

Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases

Michael Chabon, ed., Ayelet Waldman, ed., Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Meg Wolitzer, Louise Erdrich, Héctor Tobar, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Woodson, Rabih Alameddine, Ayelet Waldman, Brenda J. Child, Michael Chabon, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Salman Rushdie, Jesmyn Ward, Aleksandar Hemon, George Saunders, Scott Turow, Timothy Egan, Steven Okazaki, Sergio de la Pava, Andrew Sean Greer, Geraldine Brooks, Anthony Doerr, Brit Bennett, Yaa Gyasi, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, William Finnegan, Marlon James, Morgan Parker, Jennifer Egan, David Cole, Lauren Groff, Ann Patchett, David Handler, C.J. Anders, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Cunningham, Elizabeth Strout, Li Yiyun

Study Guide

Flying Lessons & Other Stories

Ellen Oh, Kelly J. Baptist, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Kwame Alexander, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, Soman Chainani, Jacqueline Woodson, Matt de la Peña

Teaching Guide + Study Guide