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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Tom’s Wedding Suit
Tom’s wedding suit is a symbol of his connection to Patrick. Patrick buys Tom the suit that he wears when he marries Marion, and Patrick’s role as best man in the wedding indicates his importance to Tom and the ongoing role Patrick will play in their marriage, as shown by his handing Tom the ring that makes Marion his wife. The gift of the suit shows his generosity toward Tom, even as Tom makes legally binding his relationship to someone else. That the suit is the same as Patrick’s in all but color indicates that Patrick has marked the two of them as a pair. Tom takes the suit with him to wear in Venice, a trip that functions as a kind of honeymoon for him and Patrick. He keeps his decision to bring it a secret from Marion, indicating that he understands the suit’s significance as a symbol of their wedding and does not wish her to realize that he is, in a sense, also marrying Patrick.
Venice
The city of Venice represents the possibility of a life together for Tom and Patrick. Their trip there in 1958 functions as a kind of honeymoon for their partnership. They spend the time enjoying the freedom to love openly, in the presence of art and beauty that feeds their souls. In his failed arguments to convince Tom to stay there, Patrick attempts to build a life together that is impossible in England. However, staying in Venice is as impossible as living together as a couple would be in England. On her own trip to Venice, Marion finds herself imagining Tom and Patrick there together. Although she may have been hoping to rid herself of the memory of their relationship, instead she finds that seeing the city and imagining them together there drives her to take steps toward reuniting the men. In this way, Venice itself represents Tom and Patrick’s union.
Dr. Russell’s Office
The office of Dr. Russell represents the world of culture and learning that Patrick longs to return to, standing in marked contrast to the prison cell in which Patrick is confined. D Hall stinks of old sweat and boiled cabbage, but the office building has a smell of new plaster that reminds Patrick of bread. Patrick is always cold in the other sections of the prison, but the office is warmed by a fire and softened with a carpet. Most importantly, there is a print on the wall of Henri Matisse’s painting La Danse. While the office is a reminder of the comfortable world Patrick misses, it is still a lesser copy. The carpet is thin, synthetic, and ugly. The Matisse is only a print, paling in comparison to the original paintings and sculptures that had surrounded Patrick at his museum job. Patrick finds the print a kind of torture to look at because it reminds him of the world of beauty he cannot access from prison. While the office is a respite from the cold misery of prison life, it is only a representation of the life Patrick has lost, not a true substitute for it.
