Wristwatch Symbolism

The symbolism of the broken wristwatch "For Esme-with Love and Squalor"?

I must find the symbolism of the broken wristwatch "For Esme-with Love and Squalor "by Salinger and is indeed very hard because the story seems to be completely useless! ** I read Nine Stories Salinger by an assignment of the summer and is the most confusing thing I ever read because it is soooo friggin random! I do not understand not! HELP PLEASE! lol

The watch was a precious thing for Esme, so this was a most thoughtful gesture and difficult for her to send him – a gesture of love to someone who lives in poverty. This crystal is damaged in transit means that the purity may be contaminated by the unsuspecting world (see Sgt. bunkmate X) in which such purity and business thinking. However, the gesture that counts more thing itself, as a sergeant. X is finally able to sleep and be redeemed.

03 – Regulation of Time