58 pages • 1 hour read
Mira T. LeeEverything Here Is Beautiful
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Spider
The dynamic of Miranda and Lucia’s relationship as sisters is repeatedly depicted by a spider and its web. In the beginning of the novel, Lucia finds a spider’s web in the backyard. Miranda is quick to comfort her and assure her that she won’t be harmed, but Lucia quickly brushes Miranda’s words off, stating that she thinks the spider and its web are “beautiful.” This scene establishes the dynamic between the two sisters. Miranda, even as a child, acts as a caretaker for Lucia, preemptively trying to protect her even though Lucia is unafraid. Lucia, for her part, focuses on the beauty of nature. In Christian, Islamic, and Buddhist texts, spiders represent the promise of protection in return for belief (“Spider Symbolism.” Literary Devices). In the case of Miranda and Lucia, the spider and its web become representative of Miranda’s dedication to protect Lucia. By reminding her that the spider will not hurt her, Miranda also claims that she will not hurt Lucia. Young, and eager to see the beauty in the sentiment, Lucia states that the web, Miranda’s protection, is beautiful.
In Part 3 of the novel, as Lucia gets ready to take Essy and leave Ecuador, she begins to obsess over a spider in the corner of her room. She thinks about the beauty of the spider’s web and offers the spider some of her blood, remembering that she’d read that when a spider ingests the blood of someone who has a mental illness, their web becomes distorted (258). This scene precedes the most severe dispute between Lucia and Miranda in the novel. In this scene, the spider, Miranda, is too busy tending to her web and ignores Lucia’s offering of blood: a chance to understand her illness. Once the spider finishes its web, it disappears, echoing Lucia’s fears that Miranda only cares about treating her illness.
After the spider disappears, Miranda confronts Lucia, which further confirms Lucia’s belief that Miranda only cares about Lucia’s condition. Overwhelmed, Lucia obsesses over the spider, becoming more and more agitated as Miranda questions her about her medication. Lucia’s actions in this scene mirror her actions with the spider; she tries to give insight into her life by forcing Miranda to take her pills, mirroring the way she fed the spider her blood. Later, when Manny asks why she didn’t leave for Switzerland to see Miranda, Lucia responds that it is “full of spiders” (277). This change in perception—from seeing spiders as beautiful to being averse to them—represents Lucia’s changed perspective of her sister’s protection, which now feels stifling.
The Serpents
In Chapter 4, Lucia describes the pair of serpents that live within her head, guiding her actions: “The serpents spoke in opposite voices. If one was soft, the other was loud; if one politely reminded me to keep my hands to myself, the other said I deserved to have my arms lopped off for not listening” (148). This ties into the theme of Perception Versus Reality, as Lucia constantly wars with herself over which “serpent” to listen to and how to behave around others.
The imagery of the serpent functions in different ways within the novel. First, it alludes to the serpent in the Bible that tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. In this case, Lucia functions as Eve: She falls for the tricks of the serpents and is punished because of it. In the lens of Western and Christian mythology, the two serpents with opposing messages also represent a common literary plot device, in which a character has both an angel and a devil on their shoulders offering them opposing pieces of advice.
Second, the image of dual serpents living in Lucia’s head is an ironic reference to healthcare. In medicine, the symbol of the snake wrapping around a rod—called the Rod of Asclepius—represents healing. In 1902, the United States Army Medical Corps mistakenly adopted the caduceus as their symbol. The caduceus is an image of two snakes wrapping around a rod with a pair of wings on the top. It represents commerce and trade as it was associated with Hermes, the Greek god of trade and travel. Today, the caduceus is widely mistaken for the Rod of Asclepius and often misrepresented within the media (Kyle and Sampo. “Medical Symbols: The Caduceus” Mayo Clinic Proceedings vol. 65, no. 8, Aug. 1990).
Lee uses the two serpents within Lucia’s mind to criticize the treatment of patients with mental health conditions by the healthcare system, invoking the message that they prioritize commerce over healing. This is seen in several scenes regarding Lucia’s treatment and hospitalization; Lucia’s doctors and case workers prioritize getting her discharged regardless of her actual state, and they openly view her, and the other patients in the psychiatric ward, as defined by her condition, rather than as an individual.
The Ceiling
Imagery of the ceiling serves as a physical representation of the characters’ mental states. The first occurrence happens when Manny becomes intimate with Susi. He describes the ceiling and the room around him, “[closing his] eyes and [seeing] Sheetrock crumbling, collapsing pipes, the splintering of marble tiles” as he has intercourse with Susi (77). Manny’s relationship with Susi occurs because of his dissatisfaction and frustration with Lucia. As his relationship with Lucia “splinters” and “crumbles,” Manny seeks relief elsewhere, as he feels strained by the degree of support he must offer Lucia without receiving any himself.
Later, when Lucia begins to act differently and experiences an “episode,” Manny dreams of the ceiling caving in on him: “When I slept, I dreamed my coffee-stained ceiling collapsed and Lucia and Mami and Susi fell on top of me. I was too tired to tell them to go away” (90). This image depicts the overwhelming pressure that Manny feels from the women in his life. His mother has placed all of her hopes for Fredy’s health on Manny’s marriage to Lucia. Manny also feels guilty about his sexual relationship with Susi, as he has a child with Lucia and is expected to marry her. Even in his dreams, Manny feels too exhausted and overwhelmed to engage in true self-care.
Once Lucia returns from Crote Six, she compares her banana plants to the room she’s in:
I studied their fronds, such lovely green veins, neat and parallel, in contrast with the wild crisscross cracks on the ceiling. […] The room felt different. Once thick and seething, it now sat eerily still, as if it’d been depleted of some elemental particle (159).
The juxtaposition between the even veins of the banana leaves and the random cracks in the ceiling represent the state of Lucia’s mental health. While the ceiling may be lined with neat leaves, representing Lucia’s mental health after receiving treatment, the ceiling itself still remains cracked. Despite having been released from the hospital and seeming to be better, her treatment is not a “cure” for her condition. Later, when Lucia tries to buy tickets to America for her and Essy without Manny’s consent, Lucia feels the ceiling “collapse” in a similar way to Manny: “The ceiling, descending, hovers just inches away from the top of her head. […] She is dizzy, trembling. Plunging toward entropy” (254). During this scene, Lucia is at the height of an “episode,” having become obsessed with taking Essy back to the United States to be with Yonah. The ceiling falling down on her once again represents overwhelming pressure. This time, the pressure comes from Lucia’s need to leave Ecuador and her fear of leaving Essy behind.
