4. Symbolism

I am reading Reached by Ally Condie.
A symbol I would offer to Cassia is lone wolf because she is very independent in general, even though she is very attached to Ky, she still thinks and makes decisions for herself.  For instance, when The Rising came along, Ky did not want to join because his father was in it before he died and he was still bitter towards his dad for not protecting as many people throughout it as he should have.  And yet, Cassia still chose to join whether Ky would or not.
I would symbolize Ky as a functioning broken heart because although his heart is shattered at times knowing that he may not find Cassia anytime soon or as soon as he'd like, he can still function along the way to get work done.  But, once he finds Cassia, nothing else in the world matters anymore: people, their safety, his friends: none of it.  Finding Cassia is all that truly matters to him.
I would symbolize Xander as a fish, because he keeps on swimming and swimming and swimming but can't ever seem to get to Cassia as much as Ky.  It hurts him, but he never stops swimming because he feels like the top is close than it truly is.