Meet Me at the Lake

Coffee is one of Fern’s favorite things, and the state of coffee is used to symbolize her outlook throughout different moments in the novel. In Chapter 4, Fern makes coffee for Will. The way she makes it shows her feelings for him: Not only does Fern make Will his coffee exactly how he likes it, reading into the fact that he might want more than three sugars—she makes him special latte art. Fern’s extra attention to detail and special way of making coffee for Will symbolizes her excitement and attraction to him.

In the present, Fern’s coffee at the resort begins badly. Fern explains that the coffee from the pod coffee maker is “too hot and too weak” (49), and describes her first sip as “unsatisfying” (49). This bad coffee symbolizes how Fern is struggling with her time at the resort and not enjoying herself. When she serves this coffee to Will, their conversation ends in an emotional confrontation, where Fern asks Will for the first time about why he abandoned her nine years ago. The bad coffee symbolizes the negative emotions Fern feels about the resort and Will.

However, Fern turns her outlook on the resort around in Chapter 7.