The Fine Print

Dreamland Park functions as a symbol in the novel in two different ways. For Rowan and his family, Dreamland is a place of sorrow and pain, but for Zahra and her family, it is a place of lightness and joy. Since Dreamland is where Rowan’s mother died, Rowan associates it with the pain of her loss and of his father’s transformation into an emotionally abusive father who succumbed to an alcohol addiction. Zahra, however, has grown up in Dreamland, knowing it from childhood because of her parents’ jobs at the park; even though she was hurt by Lance’s decision to submit her Dreamland project as his own, she still sees the park as a place of joy and works hard to create that same joy for the children in the park salon. Her joy helps Rowan to see the park as it used to be, bringing light back to a place of darkness for him and transforming Dreamland back into a symbol of hope and of recovering one’s true self.

The Creator team functions primarily as a symbol of both hope and fear for Zahra. She has longed to be a Creator since she was a child, but Lance’s betrayal lowered her self-esteem so much that she began to see the Creator position as an unattainable dream.