50 pages • 1 hour read
Julie BuxbaumWhat to Say Next
Fiction | Novel | Published in 2017A 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
David’s Notebook
David’s notebook fulfills both symbolic and plot-furthering roles in the text. Before it is stolen, the notebook represents David’s social isolation. The notebook contains sections documenting “notable incidents” with different classmates; most of these incidents, despite being supposedly notable, are minor. The notebook illustrates David’s need to methodically process the things that his neurotypical classmates understand instinctually. This difference in ways of thinking about social interaction builds distance between David and the other Mapleview students. The notebook occupies a dual role as a tool that keeps David safe and an item that gets him in trouble. When David’s notebook is stolen, it leads to conflict with his classmates—though not, to his relief, with Kit. That Kit looks at David’s most private musings and finds delight and recognition, instead of revulsion like the other students, shows that she accepts David on a deeper level. David does not reference using the notebook after it is returned to him, implying that his social skills are improving and that he perhaps no longer relies on the notebook to organize his interpersonal relationships.
The notebook is another way that Buxbaum manages to subvert the typical gender roles presented in the teen movies that David references throughout the text; in these films, it is usually the diary of a female character that goes missing or becomes exposed.
Closed Loops
David and Kit undertake their “Accident Project” after David expresses his desire to have “closed loops” in his life. To David, these loops mean finding answers to things that do not make sense to him. This often applies to social interactions, something he finds largely bizarre. He seeks to close these “loops” by finding rational explanations for others’ actions, and when no such logic is to be found, he seeks rules (largely provided by his sister, Miney) that help him find meaning in interpersonal interactions.
David thus believes that finding the answer to whether Kit could have prevented the accident will bring her peace—though he initially believes that the “loop” will be closed once they determine if or how Robert could have prevented the accident. David finds such satisfaction from figuring out that Kit was driving that he reacts with inappropriate cheer in the face of Kit’s emotional pain and guilt. Once she moves past her hurt at David’s reaction, Kit decides that she finds some comfort in knowing that she could not have saved her father’s life, though it does not “fix” her grief. Instead, the “closed loop” is the revelation of Kit’s secret that she had been driving the car and the closure that it eventually brings her to admit this to her peers.
David does not ever explicitly state that he relaxes in his desire to have a “closed loop.” Despite this, however, the novel implies that he is gradually able to accept “open loops” given his optimism about Kit’s open-ended offer to resume their friendship and, possibly, their romance.
Kit’s Freckles
Kit has three freckles on her collarbone that represent David’s attraction to her. Kit realizes that David sees her as beautiful when she sees the way he has sketched her neck, including the freckles. Though David feels embarrassed by the possibility that Kit will see his notebook, Kit feels flattered by the illustration rather than alarmed. Later, David gives Kit three drawings of her neck and the freckles. In these drawings, the freckles are first in their normal shape, then in the shape of the pi symbol, and then in the shape of the infinity symbol, two mathematical concepts that David previously referenced liking. David uses physics and mathematics throughout the text as sources of comfort or deep meaning. For instance, the pages spent enumerating pi are used to show how a singular thought like the retention of the infinite digits of pi brings David comfort in his distress. He also fixates on twin prime numbers, believing them to illustrate romantic love. That he frames Kit’s freckles through a similar lens shows that he finds her not only beautiful but also significant, mathematically and otherwise. Seeing herself through David’s unique perspective helps Kit to better appreciate herself.
