52 pages • 1 hour read
Love and Other Words
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Symbols & Motifs
The Closet
Macy meets Elliot when she finds him reading in the closet of her new bedroom. From then on, she and Elliot meet there to read together. The closet becomes a symbol of their early relationship, a sanctuary for them individually and together, a protected place where they find privacy, but also a boundary that prevents them from getting to know one another in the wider world. It also reflects Macy’s need for safety and privacy as she deals with the grief of her mother’s passing as well as her reluctance to share her personal struggles.
As Elliot and Macy grow older, Macy begins to realize that they only know one another’s weekend lives. They don’t know one another’s friends or go to one another’s schools or dances. The closet, which started as a sanctuary, becomes a cage. In the end, Elliot notes their relationship fell apart when they tried to be a couple outside the closet. Elliot assures her that was only an unfortunate coincidence, and they will be able to thrive together. When they bring their relationship out in public, it suggests that Macy is prepared to be more open with others and stop bottling her feelings.
Favorite Words
Elliot and Macy bond over their love of books and words. They continue asking one another their favorite word at different stages, and this word game becomes a motif that illustrates the themes of The Power of Relationships to Heal and Shared History as the Basis of a Relationship Leads to Love. It is also a way that they communicate their feelings without stating them directly. The first time Elliot asks, Macy says, “Ranunculus,” because it is her mother’s favorite flower, though she doesn’t disclose that to Elliot.
The characters’ changing feelings about their favorite words suggest that one’s preferences change over time. As their relationship evolves, they use this game to covertly disclose their changing feelings for each other and to insinuate their sexual attraction. Macy says her favorite word is “excruciating” because not being able to touch Elliot is excruciating for her. Another favorite word is “limerence” which means the feeling of being infatuated with someone.
In the end, Macy doesn’t hesitate to say her favorite word is “you,” clearly referring to Elliot. This not only indicates that Macy is devoting her heart to him, but she is living more openly, declaring her feelings more directly. This may signify that Macy and Elliot will stop playing word games and learn to communicate more directly.
The Berkeley House and the Healdsburg House
For Macy, the Healdsburg house is a weekend getaway. For Elliot, Healdsburg is home. The distance between their two houses during the week helps establish the conflict between the two characters. The houses are symbols of proximity and distance, and they are literally distant from one another during the week. This contributes to Macy’s anxiety about her relationship with Elliot. She feels she can’t really know him because she doesn’t know what he’s like during the week without her. The distance between the Berkeley house and the Healdsburg house symbolizes the emotional distance between Macy and Elliot. Macy must drive several hours to get to Elliot, but he is always there. Emotionally speaking, Elliot remains rooted in one place while Macy goes back and forth indecisively.
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By Christina Lauren
