Day

“The Woman on the Stairs. A woman paralyzed by her own selfishness and triviality, a woman who knew she should love her life more than she did but couldn’t seem to love her life beyond a few odd inconsequential incidents.”

The capitalization of the words at the start of this passage convey the idea that Isabel is allowing the stairs to consume her life, creating a title for herself. The stairs are a metaphorical representation of her life as it stands: somewhere between a life she “should love,” and the one that she truly wants.

“Robbie’s in love with the person they’ve created together—someone romantic, someone generous of heart, someone kind and gentle but wised-up and ironic, as well. There’s the fact, too, that Robbie may love them better than they’re able to love each other.”

Robbie’s thoughts about his feelings for Dan and Isabel convey The Complexities of Love and Attraction. While Dan and Isabel discuss later in the text if Robbie was in love with Dan, Robbie believes that he is more in love with their situation as a couple, rather than either of them as individuals. Additionally, Robbie recognizes that Isabel and Dan do not have the relationship they once had, as the two are beginning to drift apart from each other after years together building a family. Robbie, as an outsider, is capable of loving them more than “they’re able to love each other” because of his presence outside of their relationship.

“Dan is neither tragic nor melancholy. He’s the harried servant of his children. He awaits his own comeback, but until then it’s Dan the Knight Templar, finding dignity in service, willing to relinquish all appearances of power in the name of duty.”

These thoughts from Dan stand in stark contrast to how Isabel and Robbie view him, as just before they were discussing how he is struggling to cope with aging and failing at a musical comeback. However, throughout the course of the novel, the hollowness of Dan’s words become clear, or rather, the emphasis on the words “awaits his own comeback” becomes more poignant. After two more years of being a “servant” to his children, he turns back to his substance use disorder to cope with his own unhappiness.

“It can seem sometimes that the true end of civilization is starting not at the top, not among deluded politicians or corporate lords […] but at the bottom, among those who care for children, the people who can’t be sure that the walls have been checked for toxicity or that no one will walk into a classroom in homemade camouflage and a Halloween mask, carrying a semiautomatic.”

Although these thoughts by Robbie are in regard to Violet’s school opening late because their teacher disappeared, they are also a central point of the novel as a whole with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Cunningham explores the impact that the virus had on the lives of everyday people—emotionally and psychologically—an idea that is largely ignored in favor of examining its impact “at the top.”

“At what age do children begin to realize that they’re expected, sometimes, to be parodies of children?”

Robbie thinks of this as he watches Violet become overly excited to stay with him—wondering if she is acting happier than she really is for his sake. This is a central idea to the novel, as is shown when Isabel repeatedly reminds herself to do her duties as a mother and, after Robbie’s deaths, when Nathan and Rob attempt to pretend they are not as affected by his death as they are. In each of these instances there is an underlying idea that people often are “parodies” of what they are supposed to be, putting on a performance for the sake of others and ignoring their own desires.

“Isabel is embarrassed about her sadness. She’s embarrassed about being embarrassed about her sadness, she who has love and money.”

After Isabel cries and is consoled by strangers on the subway, she feels an overwhelming sense of embarrassment. What is important is that she ties that feeling to the fact that she does not deserve to be sad—given that she has “love and money.” This idea is central to her character, as she struggles to face and deal with her own unhappiness throughout much of the novel, instead trying to convince herself that she has nothing to be unhappy about given her financial success and her family.

“[Isabel] ponders the prospect that decadent unhappiness might, in its way, be worse than genuine, legitimate despair. Which is, as she knows, a decadent question to pose at all.”

This quote is an example of a polysemy—where a word is used that has multiple meanings in order to convey a more complex, nuanced understanding of a situation. The word “decadent” can mean both self-indulgent and decaying, and both of these meanings apply to Isabel’s thoughts. Her unhappiness is both self-indulgent, as she allows herself to be sad despite everything she believes she has to be happy for, while also being exemplary of her decaying situation within her family. Similarly, the question itself—whether self-indulging unhappiness is worse than actual “despair”—can be read as either “decadent” in its selfishness, or “decadent” as an indication of her failing happiness.

“Dan has established his own private inner museum of Garth’s missteps, his bunglings, his overestimations of his own powers. The DUI, the unpaid loans, the seven-month marriage to that poor turbulent unschooled girl, the second DUI. Dan is the museum’s curator, and its sole visitor.”

These thoughts provide insight into Dan’s character in relation to his brother. Dan fixates on the comparison between Garth and himself, adamant that he has built a better life due to his marriage, his recovery from his substance use disorder, and the life he has built with Isabel. However, Dan still suffers from Midlife Disillusionment as, despite his best efforts to convince himself he is happy by comparing himself to Garth, he is unfulfilled in his life. Ironically, at the conclusion of the novel, Dan also experience substance use disorder again and fails at his music career, while Garth finds his first success as an artist, thereby rendering Dan a failure by his own definition.

“[Isabel] is—why deny it?—frighteningly intense about Robbie and Wolfe. She does her best to conceal it from Dan and the kids. She checks Instagram only when she’s alone out here on the stairs.”

Isabel’s obsession with following Robbie through Wolfe conveys not only her further Midlife Disillusionment, but also the immense impact that Robbie leaving had on her life. This impact is rooted both in jealousy—over Robbie having started his life over—and also her own forced confrontation with her own unhappiness now that she no longer has Robbie to rely on. Robbie’s absence, coupled with the pandemic, force Isabel to deal with her lack of fulfillment in her life and, ultimately, change.

“It is important to believe that coming and going will be natural again, that the denizens of the future will think nothing of going out to pick up a few things at the store.”

The simple act of going to the store and the way that it has been drastically altered in 2020 convey the theme of The Impact of COVID-19 on Daily Life. Additionally, the phrase “important to believe” conveys the idea that, even as COVID-19 creates a bleak outlook for the future and a return to “normal” life, it is necessary to remain hopeful.

“Dan and I can’t do anything but keep on. It’s dangerous to go to the grocery store, good luck looking for a separate place to live plus we can’t do that to the kids or to ourselves for that matter.”

Isabel’s letter to Robbie conveys the theme of The Impact of COVID-19 on Daily Life, as she has realized that she is unhappy in her marriage to Dan but is even more trapped now because of the pandemic. Additionally, the sentence is written as a run-on, with her thoughts of there being no place for her to go merging with the harm it would do to Dan and her children. In this way, these thoughts are tacked on as an afterthought; while she primarily is concerned about having nowhere to go, she mentions her regrets for how it will affect her family quickly at the end because she knows that she should feel sympathy—even if she doesn’t.

“A surprise: it seems he was more satisfied by the yearning to go back to writing songs than he is now that he’s writing them.”

Much of Dan’s character in the first section of the text revolves around his fixation on writing music and gaining fame, returning to his youth. However, once he actually achieves that, he comes to the realization that it is not as fulfilling as he expected it to be, showing his failure to truly address his Midlife Disillusionment and foreshadowing his unhappiness—and his experiencing substance use disorder again—at the end of the novel.

“What’s most strange: [Nathan’s] glad [Violet’s] gone, and he wishes she weren’t. When she’s here, and she’s here annoyingly often, there’s…someone here.”

Nathan is portrayed in the second part of the novel as someone who wants to be left alone—angry at his parents, not being able to see his friends, refusing to do schoolwork, and being annoyed by Violet. However, the reality is that he, too, is feeling The Impact of COVID-19 on Daily Life. Even though he is at an age where Violet annoys him and he wants his independence, he is also becoming overwhelmed by the utter lack of human interaction during lockdown.

“Robbie isn’t attractive to me. Okay he’s not not attractive, but you know what I mean. He knows how I feel about him. Which means he can listen to the songs and not think, This is about me. Beyond lust there’s a purity, you know?”

As Dan explains to Isabel why he wants Robbie to listen to his music, his thoughts convey The Complexities of Love and Attraction. For Dan, Robbie is someone that he loves—but also someone that knows that there is no sexual attraction between them. As a result, Dan believes that Robbie is able to give his unbiased opinion of Dan’s music, instead of getting fixated on whether his love ballad is about Robbie. Throughout their conversation, Isabel repeatedly tells Dan that she does not understand what he is saying—either unwilling to admit that Robbie’s love is better for Dan in some ways, or truly not having the desire to understand what Dan is trying to say due to her lack of interest in his music.

“Does it ever get to be too late? If neither of you abuses the dog (should they finally get a dog?) or leaves the children in the car on a hot day. Does it ever become irreparable? If so, when? How do you know, how does anyone, know when they cross over from working through this to it’s too late?”

Isabel’s questions to herself explore the theme of The Complexities of Love and Attraction. For her, her relationship with Dan is something that she no longer wants to be a part of; however, she also recognizes that this is, to some degree, wrong of her—as Dan has never done anything drastic. Rather, she has simply fallen out of love with him and forces herself to come to terms with this fact throughout the novel.

“Nathan starts School of Rock again. Here’s Jack, stripping off his shirt onstage, diving into a crowd that doesn’t catch him, lying facedown on the floor.”

Nathan’s decision to lock himself in his room and repeatedly watch the movie School of Rock is ironically humorous. In the film, Jack Black plays a former rock-and-roll star who turns into a high school teacher, who always has the desire to return to his days as a star. This is a representation of the life that Dan is trying to live. In particular, the scene described—where Jack Black jumps into a crowd that lets him fall—is a metaphor for Dan’s life, as he repeatedly “dives” into the music scene with music that falls largely flat, failing to gain an audience, yet he does so over and over again.

“A mother is not innocent. She can’t be. Too much is asked of her. Don’t let a therapist talk you into owning too much of your own responsibility.”

The letter that Isabel writes to Violet—to be read in the future—adds another layer of complexity to Isabel’s character. She wants to make it clear to Violet that she bears some responsibility for what happens to Violet in her life, so much so that she does not want Violet to let a “therapist” convince her to accept too much responsibility for how her life turns out. This idea conveys the guilt that Isabel has over how she is raising Violet, as well as her self-awareness, as she realizes that she has mentally removed herself from her parenting role.

“Isabel descends the stairs and walks outside. The afternoon light, pallid and unwarming, seems to coalesce in the air rather than emanate from the sky, more like a wan, permeating glow than actual sun. There are no cars. There’s no one on the sidewalk. The street, unpopulated. […] Across the street the Shoe Hospital remains closed, its sign unlit.”

This scene is a parallel scene to the opening one of the novel, with the two standing in juxtaposition to one another. Isabel sees these same things one year earlier—yet now, due to the Impact of COVID-19 on Daily Life, the scene is empty and “pallid,” where before it was “bright” (3), with people in the streets and the Shoe Hospital sign illuminated to signal its opening.

“Unlikeliest of all is the box on the stone shelf of the mantelpiece, unremarkable as any other object in the room. It’s made of wood, the color of dark chocolate, slightly smaller than a shoebox. There has been, it seems, an effort to render it as ordinary-looking as possible.”

Although it is never explicitly stated, it is implied that this box on the mantel contains Robbie’s ashes. Cunningham’s decision to describe something so monumental in such an “ordinary” way is reflective of how much of the novel is written: The plot points, such as Robbie’s death, are only briefly mentioned and are not central to the novel. Instead, he explores the impact that those plot points have, psychologically, on the characters. Additionally, the “unremarkable” nature of the box conveys the idea that death is something ordinary—which happens every day. Instead, the focus is on the extraordinary impacts that death has on those still living.

“Because [Nathan’s] mother knows in ways no one else does how impossible it’s become for him to reenter the orderly passage of time, how he lives in an ongoing series of minutes that arrive and depart but are not quite fully connected to each other, so that a day is a rapid-fire progression of still photographs, with Nathan as their subject.”

Nathan seeks support and comfort from his mother as he grieves, convinced that she must know how he feels. However, when he realizes that she did not go out onto the porch to comfort him—but rather to wait for Dan—he begins to think that no one will console him, instead fleeing to the lake. This quote shows not only the deep impact that Robbie’s death has on Nathan, but also the way that Isabel continues to largely fail in her role as a mother, instead consumed by her own unhappiness and lack of fulfillment.

“How has he become this poor fuck, hung up on the least likely of romantic fixations after almost twenty years of their shared, jostling comrade-hood—all those private jokes, those confidences and confessions? When, exactly, did the change occur?”

Garth considers how he fell in love with Chess without realizing it, shifting from being just friends. His thoughts—and his anger—convey the theme of The Complexities of Love and Attraction. To this point in his life, Garth has remained single, stayed out of relationships, and lived up to what Dan describes as his “bad boy” nature. However, his changing feelings for Chess show the fine line between friendship and love, as he has grown to care more for her without realizing it. This idea parallels that of Dan and Robbie, who have a strong friendship that both admit is love without sexual attraction.

“Isabel marvels occasionally over the fact that none of Wolfe’s followers seem to notice, or care, that Wolfe (and now Robbie, alongside him) has been in Iceland for over a year. It is, she supposes, a kind of eternity for Robbie and Wolfe. An escape from the boundaries of time.”

This idea is repeated throughout the novel—that Wolfe’s Instagram page lacks verisimilitude, yet his followers do not care. This is representative of the fact that Wolfe serves as a symbol not only of Robbie and Isabel’s desires, but the desires of people everywhere: to do good in the world (as Wolfe does as a pediatrician), to have a nice home, loving friends, a pet, and, in Iceland, peace and happiness. Ironically, Isabel’s creation of the end of Robbie’s life—that he is happy for “eternity” with Wolfe—is in direct contrast to the fact that he died alone. However, like Wolfe’s followers, Isabel does not care, as she desires only a happy ending and peace for her brother.

“‘We’re boats borne into the past. Fitzgerald.’ ‘I know it’s Fitzgerald. The line is “borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Something like that.’”

This conversation between Dan and Isabel, coming at the end of their conversation about Robbie and their relationship, is an allusion to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The final line reads: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180). This passage is largely understood to mean that life is like people in a boat, rowing endlessly toward their dreams, left instead with nothing but the memories of their past. This idea is representative of most of the characters in Day. They fight endlessly against their lack of fulfillment and their Midlife Disillusionment, but largely fail in doing so. While Isabel, Chess, Garth, and Nathan move forward with their lives—attempting to continue to seek fulfillment, Dan cycles back into his old destructive life, and they all do their best to continue to move forward.