51 pages • 1 hour read
Jessa HastingsMagnolia Parks
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A 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
Magnolia’s Necklace
The necklace that Magnolia wears signifies her attachment to BJ and her inability to truly separate from him. Although she has the power to definitively end their relationship, her choice to interact with BJ and wear his gifts, including clothes and jewelry—symbolizes her longing to reconnect with him. Early in their relationship, the two exchange rings that are engraved with their respective family crests. This type of ring—a modern fashion accessory that is descended from the signet rings used as a seal by persons of royal status—becomes a declaration of commitment. After they break up, Magnolia keeps BJ’s ring and strings it on a necklace that she keeps hidden beneath her clothing, representing her secret wish to be close to him and resume their former relationship. Magnolia is wearing the ring in the concluding scene at the Mandarin Oriental, and when she breaks the necklace and flings the ring to the ground, this gesture indicates that she is finally relinquishing any form of connection with BJ. By pulling off the necklace, she means to free herself from his influence.
The Mandarin Oriental
The hotel where Magnolia lost her virginity to BJ becomes a symbol of the best parts of their relationship: the joyful times that she hopes to recover one day. The hotel also represents the luxurious lifestyles that Magnolia and BJ lead. The Mandarin Oriental is an icon of London and is consistently voted one of the city’s best hotels. The care and planning that BJ puts into their first time having intercourse represents the best version of himself, and when Magnolia longs for his presence, it is this standard of care and devotion that she wishes to receive from him all the time. Ironically, the scene of reunion at the Mandarin becomes the scene of their final breakup when Magnolia realizes that BJ cheated on her with Paili. Thus, leaving the hotel dovetails with her act of breaking the necklace and represents Magnolia’s wish to be free of every association with BJ.
The Willow Tree
While a few places are special to BJ and Magnolia as a couple, Magnolia attaches special significance to the willow tree that stands on her family’s property in Dartmouth, a town in Devon, located in southeast England. Magnolia gives the place a sacred association, thinking of the tree as an altar. When she visits it and finds BJ there, she makes “a thousand soundless prayers and offerings” and “beg[s] whoever’s listening to align [their] stars and let him be who [she] thought he was” (401). Making love on a blanket beneath the tree was one of the many experiences that bound them when they were a young couple, but now, Magnolia wonders if these attachments might be trauma bonds, as Bridget speculates. However, because the tree is in a rural area far from London, the setting makes the other problems between them disappear. Separated from their circle of friends and their own celebrity status, they simply remember that they want to be together. The tree therefore symbolizes the enduring bond that they share.
