Commonwealth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

California Oranges

Bert, who grew up in Virginia, is stunned by the abundant growth of oranges in sunny California. Father Joe Mike, who grew up in California, nonetheless finds it miraculous when the guests bring a non-stop supply of oranges to Beverly’s kitchen to be juiced and transformed into cocktails for the party. After Bert and Teresa divorced, Jeanette keeps freshly squeezed orange juice in the refrigerator a reminder of what life used to be like when their father still lived with them: “It was a lot of work but she did it because orange juice was the way it used to be in their family” (151). The marvelous bounty of oranges is in direct contradiction to the rest of California, which seems to be divided up and contained: “Californians were used to their own houses and cards and lawns” (243). In contrast, the Commonwealth of Virginia is characterized by its fluidity of boundaries. “In Virginia, the six children had shared two bedrooms and a single cat, picked food from one another’s plates and indiscriminately used the same bath towels, but in California everything was separate” (242). The Virginia summers allow lives to mingle together, allowing the blended families to spend their summers learning to grow up together.

Alcohol

The book opens with a christening party that quickly develops into a drunken sprawling affair where even the children are getting intoxicated. It all begins when Bert, the uninvited guest viewed with suspicion by Fix, brings a bottle of gin to the party, and that bottle is soon shared with all the guests in an ever-flowing, Gatsby-esque profusion of liquor.

By the end of the novel, the alcohol that Bert gives to Franny, who shows up at his house uninvited but welcome, is sparingly doled out in a “Barmaid’s drink,” with very little alcohol (gin again) so she can drive safely. Gone are the excesses of the past. Franny, who is not a drinker, refuses when Leo begs her to join him in a drink for companionship. With Bert, she shares a drink, the book comes full circle.

Planes

The children are excited to be on the planes that take them from their mother to their father, and vice versa: “They reveled in the sanctuary of an airplane which was for the time being neither in California nor Virginia, the only two places they had ever been in their lives” (67). Like Beverly in her car, they escape the responsibilities of either state (and either parent). Planes symbolize summer and breaking boundaries. Planes also bring the children together, a “fierce little tribe” willing to push through boundaries on land, exploring and seeking adventures together.

When Teresa is in her late seventies, however, she sees planes as an instrument of torture. She loves her daughter and is eager to visit Holly in Switzerland, but she finds the travel difficult on her aging body—the confining spaces, the lack of comfort, the disorienting airports. She has a flashback to a very different plane ride—her honeymoon when Bert and Teresa traveled to Paris: “They held hands on the way to baggage claim and while they waited beside the shining silver luggage chute he kissed her, full and deep, not giving a thought to who might be watching because they were married, they were in Paris.” (277). There was no memory of the discomforts of travel, only her happiness in being so lucky to have married Bert Cousins.

Franny’s Clothes

Clothes can signify status. At the Dines’ Christmas parties, red is worn by women and vests are worn by men. When Franny shows up unprepared, she does not feel a part of the party until she has a chance to change. Even as a baby, she was properly bundled into her christening gown, even though she was too big for it, dressed appropriately for the rites of baptism. As a waitress, she wears a slim black dress and high heels to ensure big tips, as she explains to Leo, who wonders why she wears painful shoes. Her job outfit recalls a “music-video version” of her Catholic school uniform, another marker of her status (religious, academic, and wealthy enough to afford private school) to the outside world (94).

When she accompanies Fix to his chemo treatments, she prefers sweatpants, to Fix’s great chagrin: “Her hair in a ponytail, the drawstring pants, not so much as Chapstick on her face” (45). He feels that it shows she doesn’t care, unlike Beverly, who would dress up just to cook dinner for the family. Franny, however, is tired of dressing for other people. Ironically, even as a baby, she was tired of the fuss: “[…] The baby wasn’t entertained. Her blue eyes were glazed over. She was staring into the middle distance, tired of everything. All this rush to make sandwiches and take in presents for a girl who was not yet a year old” (4). Franny is now in her fifties and happy to make the decisions of how she will present herself to the world.