58 pages • 1 hour read
Jodi PicoultVanishing Acts
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A 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
Magic
Magic, precisely magic tricks, appears as a symbol throughout Vanishing Acts. Andrew is a magician, and even Ruthann pulls out the odd magic trick in the story. This magic deepens character relationships; for example, Ruthann pulls the trailer key from Sophie’s ear, and Andrew bonds with Delia while she serves as the magician’s assistant in his act. This magic is also a visual representation that parallels the lies and misdirection that run through the novel. Andrew uses a magic trick to deflect Delia’s uncomfortable questions in one case. When she asks if they ever planted a lemon tree, his response is to pull a strand of pearls from her ear. Magic depends on lies and misdirection to create the illusion of the impossible. Likewise, the characters use lies and misdirection to maintain their illusions.
At one point, Delia states that she does not believe in magic. Ruthann replies, “Me neither […] You never do, when you know how to do the tricks” (115). While Delia may have outgrown her belief in stage magic, she still believes in the lies of those around her. When Delia states that it takes two people to make a lie work, the same is true of magic. The audience must be willing to go along. Delia’s skepticism seems to stop at magic; she is a willing audience to the lies and misdirection of those around her.
Spirituality and Rituals
In Vanishing Acts, spirituality and rituals involve an individual trying to exert control over the uncontrollable by calling on a higher power. Spirituality and rituals serve as a motif throughout the story but primarily through Ruthann’s Hopi beliefs and rituals and Elise’s Mexican bruja heritage. Interestingly, the only spiritualists are women; the men in the story generally disapprove of their practices.
The journey into the spiritual begins with Sophie’s fever. Having just traveled from New Hampshire, Delia is unprepared to help a sick child, and a lukewarm shower to bring the fever down proves ineffective. Ruthann removes a turkey feather, and Sophie’s fever instantly disappears. The feathers, or pahos, were tied to Ruthann’s tree and are supposed to hold the evil of the previous year, then blow away. By attaching to Sophie, the feather poisoned her. Ruthann provides another example of this happening to a photographer that placed pahos in her hat. The woman became ill, and only returning the feathers relieved her of her ailment. While Ruthann’s explanation seems unbelievable, no other reasonable explanation is available. Ruthann shares her cultural heritage, explaining that, in Hopi tradition, the family waits after a death or burial for rain, indicating the soul has crossed to the spirit world. Shortly after Ruthann dies, there is snow—a rarity for Second Mesa in November. Delia feels that this is a message for her from Ruthann.
Elise uses tarot cards to communicate with the other side. She did a reading weekly when Delia went missing. Whenever Elise ran the cards, she found, “temperance, warned of actions I’d regret for the rest of my life […] the Devil, said someone had been lying to me” (208). After Delia reappears, the cards change. She finds the star, which neutralizes the cards beside it, next to the devil, meaning Andrew will be powerless. Elise also pulls the Ace of Wands, symbolizing chaos.
This is not the first time Elise’s cards have predicted the future. When she first meets Andrew, then Charlie, the cards indicate that the truth cannot remain hidden: Andrew will commit a crime and be punished for it; his enemy for hiding the truth will be a child who brings balance to his life; and he will have a marriage full of regret. Again, these cards are a relatively accurate representation of Andrew’s life.
Toward the end of the story, Elise gives Delia a mojo bag for help. Delia initially refuses, but Elise claims her father may want the help. Delia follows the instructions, stating, “it’s not that I believe, exactly. It’s just that, as with most acts of faith, I can’t afford not to” (438). After Delia deals with the mojo bag, Andrew is acquitted, so that act of faith is rewarded. The spiritualism and rituals in Vanishing Acts revolve around control: a bag for protection, a glimpse of the future, and a spell to stop gossip. While modern society tends to be skeptical of these practices, they have the highest success rate in the story. The hospital cannot help Sophie, but removing the feather does. Eric struggles to defend Andrew well until after the mojo bag. The future is revealed through Elise’s cards. Throughout the story, the women seek these practices while the men either ignore or openly disdain them. The women in the story use any method possible for control as, in Vanishing Acts, Elise, Delia, and Ruthann have the least control over their own lives.
Law
When one thinks of law, they generally think of rules or codes of conduct that require punishment when broken. They think of fairness and rightness. The average person does not think of the law as malleable or ambiguous, but Picoult demonstrates that the law is one more symbol of ambiguity and loss of control in Vanishing Acts. First, much of the conflict early in the story revolves around Eric’s attempt to get the correct paperwork to defend Andrew. These bureaucratic hoops serve little purpose but to make it much harder for Andrew to access his legal counsel. Likewise, Andrew’s bail is set at a million dollars cash at the whim of an irritated judge. The bail requirement continues in Arizona due to another irritated judge. However, despite Andrew’s criminal record, it seems unjust and arbitrary to hold a 61-year-old man who has not committed a crime in 28 years to a $1 million bail. Andrew has little control over this process, and the law’s ambiguity allows the judge to set an unreachable bail.
Further complicating matters, Eric discovers that the law changed after Andrew took Delia. Had Andrew waited a few months, his charge would be custodial interference rather than kidnapping, and his sentence would be lighter. Despite the change in the law, Andrew is still held to the kidnapping charge, which feels unjust. Again, the law’s ambiguity robs Andrew of his freedom and control.
At the end of the story, even though Andrew admits to kidnapping Delia, he is acquitted. Eric argued that the judge cannot tell the jury they must find Andrew guilty. He states, “you, as juror, have the ultimate authority and power to convict or not to convict—no matter what” (512). In short, the law does not decide—the jury does. This jury chooses to overlook Andrew’s confession and the mountain of proof that Andrew kidnapped Delia, deciding instead that his motivation justified the crime, proving that the law is as ambiguous as most other things in this story. Everything that should be sacred is suspect in Delia’s world, and the law is no exception.
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