Alvin’s stump is a symbol of loss. For Alvin, it initially signals the loss of the life he wanted to have. For Philip, it is a symbol of fear and loathing—the loss of safety and empathy. From the moment he hears that Alvin has lost a leg, Philip is consumed with worries about whether he will have to see, touch, or smell it. Alvin’s prosthesis—while it has an improper fit—makes the stump worse. It makes it so that Alvin cannot put weight on the remainder of his leg, or leads to new bruising, breaking, and rot. Philip overrides his fear of the stump and learns to take some satisfaction for caring for Alvin. Near the end of the novel, Philip refers to himself, after Seldon leaves: “There was no stump for me to care for this time. The boy himself was the stump, and until he was taken to live with his mother’s married sister in Brooklyn ten months later, I was the prosthesis” (361).

Philip’s stamp collection is his most cherished possession. He dreams that his stamps that display America’s national parks are emblazoned with the Nazi swastika and begins to fear that his collection will disappear, or mutate.