The One

“[Mandy] reminded herself she no longer needed the mind-set required for using dating websites and apps; Match Your DNA was based on biology, chemicals and science—none of which she could get her head around. But she trusted it with all her heart, like millions and millions of others did.”

Mandy illustrates the level of social trust in the promise of Match Your DNA. Mandy’s confidence in the technology is nearly magical. “Trusted it with all her heart” suggests an irrational and emotional belief that absolves her of risk or effort. She begins the story with the image in her head of an ideal romance engineered by a technological fairy godmother who will bring her life a happily-ever-after ending.

“‘I read something online that said Match Your DNA is going to break up around 3 million marriages. But within a generation, divorce will barely be a thing anymore,’ Sumaira said.”

Match Your DNA presages a degree of societal upheaval in the short term, but ultimately, it promises increased stability. The appeal for the individual—as opposed to for society as a whole—is to eliminate fear of rejection (i.e., divorce). This passage presents another of the novel’s themes: “For the Greater Good.” Historically, attempts to facilitate utopia have involved some measure of violence—with The One, there is privacy invasion, inequitable social stratification, and disrupted marriages—which is usually justified by saying the sacrifice is “for the greater good.” Ellie herself wields the phrase when she later justifies her duplicity.

“To the certainty of chance.”

This is the toast Deepak makes at the dinner party where the reader first meets Nick. In a sense, Match Your DNA represents the tension between chance and certainty—the question of whether it is better to turn your fate over to an