White Lilacs

Content Warning: The novel contains racist language, including racial expletives, and depicts racial violence. Some of that language is replicated in this guide when directly quoting the source text, but the author’s use of racial expletives is obscured.

Rose Lee’s sketchbook is a symbol representing the importance of recording history. Initially, Rose Lee hides her sketchbook and shows it to no one, noting how “crude” her work seemed and feeling “shy” about it (33). She believes that it is something she enjoys doing but that is not as important as the work she does in the garden and Bell house to support her family. However, after seeing the work that Miss Firth does, she becomes encouraged to create drawings just as beautiful—which is supported by Miss Firth’s reassurance that Rose Lee is “very talented” at multiple points in the novel. When Miss Firth leaves, she gives Rose Lee a sketchbook and encourages her to “make a record of Freedomtown” (158). Rose Lee spends the rest of the novel drawing the different areas of Freedom, trying to get the specific details of all the buildings correct, and then recording information about them such as who lives there and what happens to the families.