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A. Andy, Josh, and Victor host a party that become unforgivable in their lives. They host it late in the night. After everything has died down, Andy pulls out his gun to show it off. Andy then shoots it by mistake due to the fact that he was wasted. As he shoots, prom queen Helen marches down the stairs and takes the bullet. Shocked, Josh, an innocent kid who is always at the wrong place at the wrong time, is wants to call 911 but Andy and Victor threaten to kill him and his family if he tells. Joshua becomes scared as he is reminded of his little sister whom he loves. Victor and Andy bury Helen's body in the woods as Josh watches them in horror. Josh is covered by guilt; he can't do anything. The chapters in this book alternates between Helen's boyfriend, Michael, who had passed out during Andy's party and missed the shooting, and Josh. Mary Beth Miller portrays Michael and Joshua as the main characters of the story. She shows that they both have love and hatred, but are both very honest. Parts of the novel reveal that Josh was the cause of his sister's disaster. That is why he was covered in guilt.

Symbols

Symbols Portray a major impact in this book. On The Head Of A Pin By Mary Beth Miller has many secret meanings in it. These secret meanings could be conveyed as symbols. A symbol is an object that represents a larger meaning or truth. This book has many symbols in it. These symbols help the reader to understand the book more and foreshadow parts of the truth. One of the symbols was the death of Helen. This is classified as a symbol. Before Helen was killed, Helen and her friends were all together. After she was killed, all of her friends start falling apart. Helen represented the unity of her friends and the bond that they contained. After her death, the unity and bond fell apart.

Another symbol that occurred in this book was Michael's drawings that he love to draw. Michael loved to draw. He was an artist even though he didn't seem like one. No one knew he was an artist except for Helen. He loved to paint when Helen was alive, but then his art became worse as Helen died. His drawings became worse day by day due to the fact that Helen had died. As his drawings became worse, things got worse for Andy and his friends for killing Helen. This shows that Michael’s drawings had a direct correlation with Andy getting into trouble.

A third symbol that occurred in my book was Joshua's sister dying. Joshua was one of the kids who was there when Helen was killed. He helped Andy cover it up and now is in complete guilt. Joshua's sister dying is a symbol because she is what Joshua will become if he doesn't reveal the truth of Helen's death. The guilt will eat him up and put him into bed. Angela (Joshua's sister) symbolizes the truth. Mary Beth Miller shows us in the book that all the symbols convey a single message: The truth should be told even in the most horrifying places.

Sources Miller, Mary. On The Head Of A Pin. New York: Dutton Books, 20