The Razor's Edge

The idea of elevation, both a symbol and motif, appears each time Larry experiences oneness with something greater than himself—first when he is high above the clouds in his plane, then in his transcendent experience on the mountaintop where he feels all his questions to be answered. Being high above the world represents renunciation, which the reader is told is necessary for enlightenment and true happiness. Height might not be necessary for everyone. Larry’s need for distance from the earth may be a function of his inability to fully understand other people. Only in the heights does his sense of being an outsider disappear.

Larry’s idea of a honeymoon in Greece symbolizes the engagement with the world that he repeatedly fails to achieve. He has always wanted to go there but never finds the opportunity on his own. When Larry proposes to Isabel, he suggests they might spend their honeymoon in Greece. Then, when he announces that he and Sophie are to be married, he again plans their honeymoon there. Had either marriage taken place, it would have led him in a different direction—an entirely different part of the world—from the one he ultimately takes. Larry never expresses regret at not seeing Greece, but still, he has missed an experience he clearly dreamed of.