The Unhoneymooners

Olive is obsessed with the idea of good and bad luck, seeing herself almost as perpetually cursed. Ethan’s less serious attitude underlines a key difference in their characters and illuminates another aspect of this theme. When Olive and Ethan are getting to know one another more seriously during their trip, she discovers that he carries a lucky penny. He brings it out to manage his fear of flying, Ethan explains to her that it is a rare coin he received as change by chance, the day he had a successful job interview. Once they arrive in Hawaii, Ethan makes a habit of tossing coins into fountains, often associated with making wishes for luck (104). He does the same after seeing his ex-girlfriend Sophie at the resort, rejecting the idea that the encounter is somehow Olive’s doom being passed onto him (118). Ethan tells Sophie at their next meeting that Olive, his new wife, is superior to his penny. Later, Ethan reinforces his more casual attitude toward luck by suggesting Olive need not be an optimist like Ami, but that her sense of perpetual impending doom may be unwarranted. Ami makes the same attempt, angrily telling Olive that she uses the idea of bad luck to avoid responsibility.