Things We Hide From the Light

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-8

Chapters 9-17

Chapters 18-25

Chapters 26-35

Chapters 36-44

Chapter 45-Bonus Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Skydiving

Lina surprises Nash with a skydiving experience. For Lina, skydiving is the ideal of empowered isolation. Alone dropping through open space, the earth spread out below, Lina relishes the magisterial feel of autonomy and control. Nash, on the other hand, is terrified of airplanes and avoids any job-related responsibilities that might entail flying. As they head to the skydiving facility, Nash grows nervous, wondering why take the risk to jump.

In the novel, skydiving symbolizes the kind of trust that marks a good relationship, which should combine the exhilaration of the unknown with the stability of nonjudgmental support. When Nash and Lina jump in tandem, their dive is perfect—a metaphor for how well they fit together. As they drift toward the earth, securely fastened together, they feel “apart from the world,” immersed in “silence, peace, and beauty” (489). For the few moments they are airborne, their anxieties and fears about life disappear completely.

For Lina, jumping with Nash means feeling the heavy weight of him attached to her jumpsuit—knowing that in this moment, Nash is fully dependent on her. For Nash, signing the documents agreeing to jump, signals how far he is willing to go for Lina: “I will sign my own death warrant, defy gravity in a tiny tin can, and then hurl myself out of it with her. For her” (487). The amendment of the prepositional phrase marks Nash understanding that his feelings for Lina run deep. The experience pushes the relationship forward. Nash sees that the risk of plunging is worth it. Lina sees that risk is better when shared.

Lily of the Valley

When Lina moves into the apartment next door to Nash, she brings with her a glossy green plant—lily of the valley. The novel identifies this plant’s specific smell with Lina: it is her hand cream scent and the wisp of perfume that Nash cannot forget after their tryst in the library. However, as Lina notes, lovers of the plant need to have patience to see its full beauty: “It won’t bloom until the spring” (23).

The symbolic traditions around the lily of the valley are complex. As an early spring bloom, it is associated with rebirth and the end of a period of desolation, darkness, and loneliness. Hence it is a favorite in wedding bouquets, such as Kate Middleton’s bouquet in her 2011 royal wedding to British Prince William. As such, the plant’s association with Lina makes her a harbinger of Nash’s psychological resurrection. At the same time, lily of the valley has biblical associations: it is a symbol of Eve’s tears on being exiled from the Garden of Eden and the Virgin Mary’s tears at the brutal death of her son Jesus. In the novel, when Nash impetuously breaks up with Lina, he notices on leaving the apartment that her lily of the valley is now “covered with delicate white-bell-shaped blooms” (472). The image reminds him of his mother, who also loved lily of the valley. These many valences of meaning remind one that love between people with trauma is never uncomplicated by sorrow.

Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man”

When a drunken Tate Dilton and his gang of oafish bullies threaten to ruin the library’s Halloween party, a song breaks the tension and eases the crowd back to celebrating their community. After a confrontation filled with expletives, crude threats, and sexual aggression innuendo, fists fly as Nash and Lina’s friends stand up to Dilton’s crew. When the kerfuffle dies down, Nash encourages a return to the convivial atmosphere by cuing the house band to launch into Thomas Rhett’s 2015 alt-country song “Die a Happy Man.”

The song says what neither Lina nor Nash at this point can admit. Its lyrics celebrate the simple joy of finding someone to love:

If I never get to see the Northern lights

If I never get to see the Eiffel Tower at night

If all I got is your hand in my hand

I could die a happy man (“Die a Happy Man.” Genius.com).

As the song plays, Lina and Nash slow dance; for the first time, they set aside their walls and feel the power of their connection. The song fosters emotional honesty; moments after it ends, Nash tells Lina it is time to stop fighting what they are both feeling. The revelation leads to their breathtaking kiss in the library office.

Nancy Drew

At the library’s annual Halloween event, revelers come dressed as their favorite literary character. Nash does not recognize Lina’s costume, so she has to explain, “I’m Nancy freaking Drew” (360). It is an appropriate choice for Lina, who reads mysteries in her down time and loves her work as an insurance investigator. Moreover, the fact that Nash cannot identify the unstylish white blouse and long “prudish” plaid skirt, is a fitting metaphor for his inability to fully see Lina at this point in the novel. The costume reflects Lina’s insistence on keeping herself apart from Nash, protecting her fragile heart by disguising herself as a commitment-phobe satisfied with her lifestyle.

Lina uses her Nancy Drew guise to avoid intimacy with Nash despite her sexual attraction. Instead, she heads to the dance floor with new friends Sloane and Naomi. As she moves to the music, Nash watches her every turn with desire. Nancy Drew picks up the clue, and begins unlocking the mystery of her heart.