The Man Who Loved Flowers

Often used as a symbol in literature, the motif of flowers serves multiple purposes in the text. Flowers represent The Joy of Young Love, as evidenced by the bouquet the young man buys for Norma. Flowers are also representative of spring, when new life abounds, which is essentially what the young man is searching for. His desperate desire to revive the life of his love is echoed in the flower vendor’s advice to add sugar to the vase’s water to “preserve them longer” (Paragraph 32).

As the narrative progresses, the flowers mentioned at the beginning of the text become a symbol of mortality and mourning. While the young man’s purchase of tea roses symbolizes his love for Norma, they become a funeral spray, spilling out around the corpse of the young woman. The flowers are the final calling card of a brutal serial killer who is mourning his loss alone. Of all the flowers in the fallen spray, the lilies are the most symbolic. Often utilized at funerals, they represent the innocence of the soul as it finds its resting place in Heaven.