Describe symbolism in Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz

Waukesha, WI is a real town in Wisconsin, Waukesha hosts the Fourth of July parade where Carl Neumann and Mathilda Starkey first meet. Mathilda's sister Amanda goes along as chaperon and Margaret Schwann, Harrit Lander, Will Audley, and Frizt Kienast also attend. Civil War veterans totter along at the end of the parade: a symbol of the dying memory of the Civil War.