What does Art represent?

Art symbolizes self-expression, and Hanna’s stubborn refusal to draw or paint mirrors her selective mutism, both keeping her walled off from parental understanding. While Hanna draws on the walls at first, “Mommy wanted her to keep her drawing and painting contained to the easel that stood soldierly in the corner. So Hanna left the big sheets of white paper perfect and unused” (52). This frustrates Suzette, who sees Hanna’s refusal to creatively express herself as a personal rejection. As when she speaks as Marie-Anne Dufosset, when Hanna finally expresses herself on the page, it is an attempt to frighten Suzette. “Finally, she set her masterpiece on the easel, where it stood in graphic black and white, its appearance in the room a new scream that could not be missed” (88).