April Morning

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1961

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Night/Day

The coming night is used as a symbol for death and change. Physical death, as well as the death of Adam’s childhood, are presaged by the darkness, both literally and metaphorically. The story begins in the late afternoon, and in Adam’s words, “the time of day made me think of death” (4). Granny’s first words in the novel are “I see less and less” (6), prompting Adam to tell her that it is just the sun going down. Granny represents the old ways, and as the world changes she is unable to understand it.

That the chapters are identified by time of day reinforces this focus on the night and the day. April Morning takes its name from the chapter where Moses is killed. The morning represents beginnings, and Moses’s death is the beginning of Adam’s manhood, but it is in the “Night” chapter when Levi dreams of a red sky (denoting war and blood) and feels the terror of death.

Night never returns after Levi’s dreams and the announcement of the approaching troops. Although Adam falls asleep at the end of the book, Chapter 8 is titled “Evening,” signifying that Adam has endured death and change, and that these “nights” are finished for now.

Adam’s Gun

Weaponry is discussed along with tactics in the battle, but Adam’s gun in particular functions as a symbol of his life and the changing expectations put upon him. Adam’s gun is what is known as a fowling piece, a gun designed to hunt small game that is typically filled with shot, as opposed to a musket ball.

While Levi is cleaning Adam’s gun, he asks Adam what would happen if a musket ball were to be put inside a fowling piece as opposed to shot. Adam responds that “the skin of the gun maybe isn’t strong enough to bear it” (43). The use of the word “skin” underlines the author’s meaning here, that this is a reference to Adam’s own life and the trial he is about to undergo. His father’s death and the ensuing responsibilities are akin to placing a musket ball in a fowling piece. The question is whether Adam “bear” the burdens that are placed upon him, or whether he will be destroyed by the pressure.

The last thing Adam and his father do together before leaving the home for the common is load Adam’s gun. Moses instructs Adam to load the gun with extra shot and powder, as the gun is not being used as a fowling piece but must have enough force to kill a man. Adam expresses concern that the gun will “kick like a mule” (77) and that the amount of shot could damage the gun. Moses replies that Adam can endure being bruised, and that his gun is well maintained and will not break, foreshadowing Adam’s fate. He will be injured in spirit, but his strength of character and stable family will see him through.

Food

Meals and food are a central motif throughout the novel. Food is used to convey love and fidelity to a person or cause. In the dinner of Chapter 1 both Adam and Granny express surprise that Moses can be argumentative and upset with Adam while eating Sarah’s cooking, which is of the highest caliber. The implication is that there is an injustice in Moses receiving love (food) but not giving love in equal measure toward Adam.

At the beginning of Chapter 2, “The Evening,” Adam tells the vignette about corn meal replacing flour in many homes as an ingredient for boiled pudding, creating a schism between the women of Lexington of such severity that it took a sermon from the reverend to heal it. The ingredients are not excoriated or condoned on the basis of taste but rather on their ties to England or to the colonies, and thus the schism was also about fidelity to a country.

Toward the end of the novel Adam takes note of how his mother used to scold him for eating too much or begrudge him extra servings, but now as the putative man of the household, she (and the other women) pushes food upon him even though he is quite full. This is less a symbol of love (for his mother has always loved him) and more a symbol of fidelity. Sarah’s allegiance was to Moses as the head of the household per the gender norms of the time, and now that allegiance is given to Adam, and the community as a whole is confirming this new role by feeding him.