The book uses objects and images as symbolism.
The imagery used helps set the mood and tells the reader about the setting.
For example:
“Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere.”(pg 2)
The imagery of the outside tells us how the world has no life; it gives us the mood of sadness.