48 pages • 1 hour read
Casey McQuistonThe Pairing (The Proposition, #3)
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020A 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
Pairings
In McQuiston’s novel, pairings symbolize romantic relationships. In the culinary world, a pairing refers to a dish and a beverage meant to be enjoyed together due to their harmonizing flavors. The term can also mean two people in a relationship, and this double meaning suits the story’s genre as a romantic comedy with a strong focus on culinary experiences. Throughout the tour, Theo and Kit sample and envision many dishes and drinks that bring out the best in one another. In Chapter 20, Kit muses, “Do you ever think [...] about how amazing it is that a drink or a plate of food can be so good separately, but if you pair them together the right way, it becomes an experience?” (381). Likewise, Theo and Kit accentuate each other’s best attributes and help one another to achieve their full potential. For example, Kit helps Theo trust herself and take risks on pursuits that she is passionate about.
This symbol reaches its culmination in Field Day, the restaurant that the couple builds together in the Epilogue. The establishment combines the couple’s last names and specializes in pairings: “And the concept is, every dish is designed to pair with a drink. A customized cocktail, a specifically chosen glass of wine. Every pairing is designed to tell a story, so when you order, you’re ordering a full experience” (401). This focus on pairings underscores the symbol’s romantic meaning and celebrates the love between Theo and Kit. The symbol of pairings contributes to the romantic comedy’s genre and the happy ending by emphasizing that the two main characters are each other’s ideal complement.
Kisses
As a motif of the theme of Second Chances in Love, kisses support the novel’s structure, suspense, and romance. The first chapter opens with Theo and Kit’s first kiss, a moment that alters their relationship forever: “The first time I kiss Kit, he tastes like jalapeños and apricots” (1). Theo observes that they share this kiss because they are both “drunk enough to be brave” (1), underlining the characters’ courage and vulnerability. Theo and Kit are reluctant to take a chance on the love that they have secretly felt for one another for years because they fear risking their cherished friendship, and their first kiss helps to convey these complex emotions and conflicting priorities.
After Theo and Kit reunite on the tour, their stance on kissing helps the reader trace their gradual movement toward giving their love a second chance. The arrangement that they establish in Chapter 13 demonstrates that they attribute greater romantic significance and emotional vulnerability to kissing than to sex. The first rule that Theo proposes is “[n]o kissing on the mouth” (216). This ban on kissing emphasizes the motif’s association with love and reflects the characters’ attempts to shield their fragile, newly restored friendship at this point in the story. Theo and Kit jointly decide to break this rule in Chapter 19 when they confess that they are still in love with one another: “Theo holds my face between their palms and kisses me back, deep and sure. I understand, finally, in the heat of their mouth. They love me. I love them. It was always as simple as that” (362). Kissing’s importance as a motif enhances the significance of one of the novel’s most romantic moments. The characters are not simply overcome in a moment of passion but choose to take a leap of faith and give their love another try. McQuiston uses the motif of kisses to add passion and suspense to the romantic comedy and to chart the main characters’ journey to becoming a couple again.
Saguaros
The saguaro cactus symbolizes home to Theo. The plant grows in California, where she has lived all her life. Theo clings to this symbol after Kit moves to Paris. Her first tattoo after their breakup is a “saguaro on [her] bicep” (55). Inscribing this symbol on her skin gives the character a tangible way to affirm her belief that she “belong[s] in [her] familiar valley” even if the person she loves is no longer there with her (47). She also seeks to vindicate her choice to stay in California by choosing Saguaro as the name of her “freelance mobile bar in a Volkswagen Microbus” (36). The bar’s name reinforces the symbol’s importance to her, and the freelance business represents an attempt to prove that she can succeed on her own after the breakup. Theo sells Saguaro before she moves to France at the end of the story, which shows that her idea of home is changing and that she is ready to trust herself outside of familiar environments. The symbolic significance of the saguaro cactus offers insight into Theo’s characterization as she grows bolder and redefines her understanding of home.
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By Casey McQuiston
