A mournful, saintlike figure haloed by the gold of sycamore bark confronts the viewer as a solemn reminder of “the inevitability of sorrow and pain as part of the human condition.” Accompanying prometheus moths symbolize fragility and suffering, echoing a story from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. A newly hatched moth is permanently disfigured “due to human interference,” its chrysalis having been placed in a jar by the teacher of the curious children who found it, “a cruelty inflicted by an impartial God.” Religious themes and questions of divine benevolence feature heavily throughout the book, which Scripps also illustrates with lily of the valley, symbols in some Christian traditions of the Virgin Mary’s tears at the foot of the cross.