87 pages • 2 hours read
Graham MooreThe Last Days of Night
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Paul’s Pen and Writing Hand
Paul’s pen appears as a symbol of his tenacity and work ethic. This emerges in the very first chapter, as Paul fails to leave for his apartment at the end of his workday, “and instead penned so many notes with his rubber Waterman that the blister popped on his right middle finger” (7). Paul is sacrificing some needs (here, represented physically) in the service of his career. His perspective on this fact is never regretful, although he does consider his profession to be that of a day laborer to the rich, toiling with his pen rather than a shovel.
His writing hand becomes the outward expression of the sacrifices he’s made within his life choices. Pining for Agnes one night, “[h]e looked to the impossible stack of papers on his desk. This is what is required of the victorious, he reminded himself. He remained at the office late that night, till his writing hand was useless, and he didn’t sleep well” (88).
Clothes
Characters’ wardrobes reflect their deeper values within the novel. Paul painstakingly cares for his only nice dinner jacket, carrying it carefully on his train rides to Pittsburgh and wearing it for every luxurious event. The jacket represents Paul’s hopes to one day be fully included in high society. It is a deeply aspirational symbol. Agnes has a similar relationship to the dress her mother steals, opening the door for her to step into high society life.
The humble style of Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel Bell reflects their grounded, unpretentiousness. Similar are the clothes of Paul’s parents, who are akin to the Bells in their interconnected views of social relations and issues.
The deeply entrenched sanctioning of the American legal system, a constant theme, is reflected in Paul’s former professor’s attire:
[His beard] matched the wig atop his head, and together they gave him a look of indifferent seriousness: indifference toward the fashions of the day, and seriousness toward the work of his life. Shirt collars changed widths and ties adapted to new knots, but the law maintained a deep immutability (174).
Delmonico’s Restaurant
Delmonico’s restaurant is a staple of New York high society, serving as a symbol for the luxurious scene. Even the famously un-materialistic Tesla loves it: “Even though he seemed to have no taste for the food, nor the slightest interest in the wine, he appeared to have developed an affinity for Delmonico’s. Not even Tesla was immune to the fragrance of exclusivity” (102). Paul takes Tesla to Delmonico’s to win him over to their side in the fight against Edison. From this simple seed, Tesla became a regular at the restaurant later in his life. Even when he has barely any money and lives in squalor, Delmonico’s regularly welcomes Tesla at his own table. In this, high society’s blindness to certain material truths reveals the fallacious power of illusory wealth.
War
Right away, the novel refers to the struggle between the inventors attempting to “light the city,” as a war: “Mr. Cravath, there’s a war on, in case you haven’t noticed” (11), and later, the novel refers to it as “The Current War.” When Tesla succeeds in making the A/C work, Paul refers to it as “a new weapon […] on the battlefield” (58), and Westinghouse describes Paul’s burns from the fire as battle wounds. The novel refers to J.P. Morgan’s coffers as a “war chest,” and Agnes uses battle tactics she’s learned from a friend to help with Paul’s strategy.
The only time a war makes a literal appearance is when Paul is recalling his father’s reaction to the Civil War. While Erastus wanted the slaves to be free, as a Pacifist, he wasn’t sure he could condone the violence of war. This moral struggle perhaps parallels Paul’s own struggle, as he wants to defeat his “evil” enemy at the risk of becoming evil himself by using Edison’s tactics.
