What is the importance of the changing seasons in the novel, The Year of the Runaways?

Seasons are extremely important to the novel both structurally and symbolically. Titled "The Year of the Runaways," the novel is divided into sections according to the seasons, and each season plays a specific role not just structurally but symbolically.

The novel begins with "Winter," and builds off of concepts associated with winter. Thus, winter serves a a symbol in the novel. Primarily, Sahota chose to begin the novel with winter because it contains the new year and symbolizes new beginnings and fresh starts. Accordingly, the narrative contains new relationship between characters as well as the reader's initial introduction to these characters.

Snow works as an additional symbol within this. When the men see snow from the bus window, they are fascinated because they are unaccustomed to it. Innocuous symbols like snow represent the unfamiliarity of England.

Spring, the title of the second section of the novel, is symbolically important for its connotations of new growth and flourishing. In accordance with the season that this section is placed in, the characters' relationships grow and strengthen. Their work lives flourish (as this is the only section in which their employment is relatively stable), but sources of tension also begin to develop. As the section proceeds, these tenuously established relations move closer to implosion, represented by the progressive growth of spring.