The Bone Cage definition
The Bone Cage means “the body.” I could have even called the novel The Body, but that’s a bit heavy-handed and doesn’t have the same ring. I like the cage imagery, the suggestion that we’re trapped by our own body’s limitations. Mostly, the book focuses on the athletic realm, a world where the connection between body and identity are highly intensified, as are the ways in which individuals come up against the body’s limitations. However, there are also some scenes that intentionally raise counterpoints for comparison, such as scenes with Sadie’s grandmother’s aging body or the scene that takes place in the yoga class. I’m especially proud of some of the scenes describing Eva’s body—because of point of view, those gory descriptions tell us more about Sadie’s attitude toward her own body than they tell us anything about Eva.