We can actually deduce here that the symbolism in the statement: “The hibiscus plant behind his head was still holding on, small but firm" means that the fragile life still held on despite being small.
<h3>What is symbolism?</h3>
Symbolism actually refers to the literary device that actually makes use of symbols in order to represent something.
We see here that the hibiscus plant symbolizes a fragile life which survived though small.