Reflective counters, prisms-this type of surface again throughout the facts of Violet’s Grandmother Flower and you will Grandpa Joe. Grandma Flower believes he’s fated becoming together as towards its date that is first, whenever she nervously broke a wine flute and you may Joe recited a good poetic Chinese claiming Rose’s pops are partial to. Later on, when organizing plant life, Grandma Flower shatters a glass vase. Following on prenuptial luncheon, once good spat that have Joe, Flower hits their juice cup to your flooring and vacations it. “I married a bad man,” she claims following grinds the fresh new damaged mug so you’re able to soil which have their unique back. That it image brings in your thoughts the new Jewish relationship customs in which the fresh bridegroom getaways a glass along with his base, hence symbolizes (one of a great many other one thing) the new bride’s loss of purity. Flower has actually apparently quit the unsuspecting illusions she transmitted toward their own relationships, illusions oriented mostly to the an effective Chinese claiming Joe found regarding the proprietor off good mah-jongg parlor exactly who assured your they “Really works ladies’ such as for instance appeal.” Furthermore, Louis recalls a world regarding their earlier where their mom, close demise, hurls his father’s view in the him, assuming within her delirium one to Louis is basically their unique inactive husband. Brand new watch’s crystal vacations and his mother says, “One, usually the one, you used to be the main one. Bah!” Eg Granny Rose, their illusions about their unique partner have finally been shattered.
Such as for example a professional photographer, Julavits uses light and you may Sofia women dating dark symbolically to inform her story. The latest fiance along with her sister are just like disadvantages of each and every other; “Violet was as the blonde and stupid due to the fact Summer are ebony and smart.” Violet attempts to fool around with terms and conditions to shed an optimistic white into the issues, contacting Louis’s average bluish shirt “refreshingly insouciant” together with inexpensive wines they take in which have dining “spirited” and you can “tumescent.” After, but not, after subscribers discover that she presented Louis and you will June and then had an affair having men who paid off her “in order to counterbalance suspicions,” it’s clear you to definitely Violet is not as snow-white while the she seems. “As an alternative, she reasoned she try developing her very own gifts, her own desires, her very own darknesses, one to she try not well-known blond optimist … brand new girl also dumb knowing the brand new thrill one can possibly rating out-of deceit.” While the story closes, June leaves behind Louis in addition to fiance within the light and guides barefoot over the roadway, in which she match Norton Black, and is also implied this particular is the beginning of a great the and you will lasting relationships. At the beginning of the story, Louis is apparently an enthusiastic irredeemable pervert and you will Violet nice and you can trusting; because of the conclusion, they have both went off grayscale in order to shades off gray.
Especially she pokes fun at “signs” and you may “omens” that individuals cling to since proof you to definitely their relationship is actually fated. Whenever Louis finds out a classic pic off a married pair from the the new municipal strengthening, “he thought that it picture … are meant given that an indication to help you your.” Granny Flower thinks one to because Grandpa Joe spends an equivalent Chinese saying given that their own daddy, he could be destined to become to each other. ” Louis is first attracted to s,” a stranger during the a photograph the guy notices while in their father’s photo store. Exactly as people attach emotional characteristics in order to pictures, thinking them to represent whole attacks of the lifestyle as opposed to this new single, tend to staged, quick that they in fact need, however they mount definition to small incidents that actually indicate nothing. Because the Julavits produces from the Grandma Rose and also the Chinese proverb, “Inside a world laden with empty coincidences and crashes, she read this as the an enthusiastic omen of the fated union.” Louis notices which in another way if you’re doing work in the images store and you will peeking within customers’ images: “he became entranced because of the odd bits of the nation anyone discover really worth retaining-a home that have a metal road amount, an excellent tin regarding muffins, this new mole to the a female’s forearm.” Ironically, because characters work on these types of small coincidences and you can omens, they ignore of several much more noticeable bits of factual statements about their relationships. Such as, Violet is well aware that Louis are an excellent womanizer and you will an effective voyeur, however, this information does not prevent their own out-of to-be their spouse.