The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

The nature of the setting pushes Hadley and Oliver out of their comfort zones, paving the way for their relationship to begin and to flourish. Hadley is made uncomfortable by their physical setting, due to her claustrophobia in the airport and on the airplane, and her discomfort persists when she is faced with the challenges of attending her father’s wedding and getting lost in London. While Oliver is calm at the airport and on the plane, he is made uncomfortable by the emotional vulnerability brought on by the truth about his father’s choices and funeral. Just as Oliver is able and willing to help Hadley deal with her discomfort in certain spaces, Hadley likewise supports Oliver emotionally once she realizes that he is attending a funeral. Part of Hadley’s growth as a character is due to her growing trust in her own intuition and the idea that there are no coincidences in life, even though circumstances might feel random.

For this evolution to happen, however, she must emerge from her comfort zone and embrace a measure of discomfort, at least temporarily. When she “finds herself leaning into [this feeling] rather than away” (131), this is precisely when her character begins to develop, and she soon becomes willing to risk angering her father, missing his wedding reception, and getting lost in London so that she can find and support Oliver. Were it not for Oliver’s support of her, necessitated by the initial settings of the novel, Hadley might not have been so open to this growth. When she stops resisting the discomfort and accepts it, she finds it easier to adapt to these new situations. Likewise, when Oliver tells the truth about his father’s infidelity and severity, he is uncomfortable and angry, and Hadley’s “open[ness]” compared with his family’s tendency to get “wound up about something” (76) and never speak of it unnerves him. However, this discomfort eventually allows him to accept Hadley’s support. After both characters intentionally inhabit their discomfort zones, rather than clinging to what is comfortable, they can support one another and pursue their fledgling romance.

Another important aspect of the airport and airplane settings is that they are spaces of liminality. Because they are transitional settings rather than destinations in themselves, it is possible for travelers to encounter “unique interactions and experiences that break the boundaries between home and away […]” (Huang, Wei-Jue, et al. “Airports as Liminal Space.” Annals of Tourism Research, 2013, vol. 70, pp. 1-13). This idea is reflected in the setting’s figurative mirroring of the liminal spaces that Hadley and Oliver inhabit in terms of their life journeys, for each of them exists in between childhood and adulthood, between what is comfortable and uncomfortable, and between a familiar lifestyle and the cusp of new beginnings. In a way, these settings insulate Oliver from his past and his future. As he tells Hadley, “That’s why flying’s so great […]. You’re stuck where you are. You’ve got no choice in the matter” (134). By contrast, the liminality of the airplane is deeply unsettling to Hadley because it makes her feel vulnerable to her fears, and she has no distraction from them until she meets Oliver. She feels trapped in a space where all she can do is mourn the past and lament the future. For one character, the physical setting provides an escape; for the other, it is a form of temporary imprisonment. The physical location of the airport also helps to create a situation wherein Oliver’s support can sustain Hadley and initiate their relationship, which leads to Hadley’s desire to help him. This mutual support allows the relationship to succeed.