Della's locket acted as a symbol because it was it represented memories of Twist's mother. Della had the memories of his mother and passed it down to Twist. Twist didn't know who his mother was or even what she looked like until he got the locket. Then he could know her as she was for the first time. The mardi graw outfits represented happiness. Twist was surrounded by happiness and fun and games when he was taken away from the fun. Della realized he was finally happy when she took him away. Then she realized she was being selfish. The orphanage acted as hard times. Twist was bullied, pushed around, and abused by the orphanage people. But Twist slowly worked his way up until he was with a family.