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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Diana’s red bra
Diana’s red bra represents the claim Diana and other women have on Stephen. The bra’s presence when Lucy becomes complicit in being the “other woman” in Stephen’s life foreshadows her fate with him. When Lucy reencounters Stephen during her sophomore year and visits his room for sex despite knowing he is dating Diana, Lucy acknowledges her culpability in his cheating but justifies it. As Lucy sneaks out of Stephen’s room post-sex, she sees Diana’s bra on his floor, a visible reminder that Stephen’s room is Diana’s territory, not hers. Lucy’s impulse to snatch the bra reflects her naive conviction that Diana is the only obstacle between her and Stephen. Carrying the bra far away from Stephen’s house to dispose of it illustrates Lucy’s desire not just to hurt Diana but to remove her from Stephen’s life, so that there will be room for her to belong there. Stealing it is also a misdirected attack on Diana that demonstrates Lucy’s deliberate blindness to Stephen’s toxic behavior.
Writers on the Riviera
The Writers on the Riviera trip, a competitive study abroad program offered by Baird’s English department, represents Lucy’s independence and ambition to create the intellectual and professional life she desires, rather than one imposed by others. At the beginning of the book, Lucy uses Writers on the Riviera to defend her decision to attend Baird, the college she chose over CJ’s preference, Dartmouth. The program represents an opportunity for Lucy to develop a self-defined identity that doesn’t reflect CJ’s goals for her. However, when Lucy is admitted to the program, she rejects the offer so she can spend the summer with Stephen, an act that demonstrates Stephen’s successful effort to erase Lucy’s sense of self. Throughout the novel, Lucy loses track of her ambition to be a travel writer, a loss that is symbolized by her relationship to the Writers on the Riviera program.
Jewelry
Jewelry plays an important symbolic role in the book, representing connections between characters as well as the nature of those characters. When Lucy’s parents drop her off at Baird freshman year, CJ gifts Lucy a pair of gold initial earrings for Lucy’s second set of ear piercings. The earrings represent CJ’s efforts to connect with Lucy, but Lucy, still feeling hurt and betrayed by her mother’s infidelity, throws the earrings in the trash, thus rejecting CJ’s attempt to repair their relationship. Stephen gives Diana a turquoise necklace, which she believes to be a symbol of his love and appreciation. In fact, Stephen purloined the necklace from his estranged mother’s jewelry box, and both the theft and his giving the stolen necklace to Diana reveal Stephen’s deceitful nature and his inability to form genuine connections with others. Lastly, Marilyn’s treasured jewelry represents CJ’s connection to her beloved aunt and surrogate parent. When Lucy steals the jewelry from her mother, she is deliberately severing that connection to in order to punish CJ for the pain that her infidelity has caused Lucy.
