Joe Trace likes peppermint candy, preferring it to any other type. The narrator pokes fun at him for offering peppermint candy to children who would prefer chocolate or something better. Peppermints are considered a candy that older people enjoy, but Joe sees them as a symbol of his youth. The first time he sees Dorcas, he is at the candy shop, buying peppermints. In the novel, peppermint candy represents youthfulness and Joe’s desire to hold onto it. Both Joe and the narrator associate Dorcas’s skin with peppermints. Although she has acne, she continues to eat candy, a habit Joe encourages. This association emphasizes her young age and perceived innocence. The narrator uses this information to support the idea that Joe’s love for Dorcas is founded on his desire to recapture his own youth.

In the novel, Morrison adheres to the association of birds and liberation. In Chapter 1, the narrator describes the rooms of Joe and Violet Trace’s apartment as being like “empty birdcages wrapped in cloth” (11). Violet collects birds and carefully tends to them each day. After the funeral, she returns home and is overwhelmed by them. She releases the birds, including the parrot who repeatedly tells her he loves her.