The Last Rung on the Ladder

While the ladder symbolizes danger, the haymow represents safety and childhood innocence. On a literal level, it cushions Larry and Katrina’s falls during the jumping game, and hay from the haymow saves Katrina’s life. It also represents a place of peace and calm. On cold, gray days like the one in which this incident takes place, the barn feels warm and cozy, in part because of the smell and feel of the haymow. The narrator describes its “sweet and dusty smell” (298), and Katrina once said that “after diving into the hay, she felt fresh and new, like a baby” (298).

While Larry is afraid to dive head-first into the hay, Katrina is not, trusting that the hay will be there to break her fall. The story ends with the line, “She was the one who always knew the hay would be there” (305), indicating that as a child, Katrina had held an unshakeable faith in both the haymow and her brother to save her, but that faith had been slowly eroded as they grew and grew apart.