"So we just kept walking, the clown and me, on and on along the deserted pavement still wet from the morning, and all the time the balloons were bumping and grinning down at me. Every so often, I could see the man's fist, where all the balloon strings converged, and I could see he has them securely twisted together and in a tight grip." pg. 213
Kathy is coping with the news that her old home, Hailsham is closing for good. It served as her comfort for so long that she wonders how she'll live without it. How will she stay the same person.
Hailsham had meant so much to her. It was where she had made her best memories. It was where she had made her collection and found the Judy Bridgewater tape. It was where she had learned her fate. Most importantly, it was where she had met Ruth and Tommy, the people who had made the most impact on her life. To her, Hailsham's pure existence was her stability. It kept even people who were far away intertwined with one another.
Like the clown's fist had on the balloons, Hailsham had a tight grip on its old students. No matter where they went or how far apart they were, they could always trace their beginnings back to the same place. Closing Hailsham was like cutting the strings of the balloons. The students would no longer have this place to go look at that kept them together. Like the balloons they would go far away and never return to that same place.
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