45 pages • 1 hour read
Jennifer E. SmithThe Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Unpredictability of Life and Love
The idea that both life and love are unpredictable is revealed by the characters’ relationships. Hadley has not been looking forward to her trip to London for many reasons. She doesn’t want to attend her father’s wedding, and she harbors an intense dislike of confined and crowded spaces like airplanes and airports. When she meets Oliver and unexpectedly develops feelings for him, she reflects that she has “spent so much energy dreading this trip that she hadn’t been prepared for the possibility that something good might come out of it” (32). Once she recognizes the similarities between the serendipity of her meeting with Oliver and the fortuitous occurrence of her dad’s encounter with Charlotte, she realizes that she cannot blame Andrew for his. After all, when Hadley feels the “urgency of [her] decision” (141) to seek Oliver out at his father’s funeral, she listens to the impulse despite the apparent irrationality of her behavior. When she later explains her actions to her dad, she sees “a light behind his eyes that refuses to go out. It's the same light that Hadley’s seen in Mom when she’s with Harrison. It’s the same light she believes she saw in Oliver’s eyes on the plane (197). This “light” is love, and Hadley realizes that it comes when least expected: in a claustrophobic panic, on an international trip, or even in a dentist’s office. Thus, both Hadley’s relationship with Oliver and Andrew’s relationship with Charlotte support the idea that the vagaries of life and love are beyond the control of any given individual.
Andrew’s apparent powerlessness to resist his love for Charlotte and his honesty with Hadley also emphasize this theme. When he tries to explain his actions to Hadley, he “look[s] utterly defeated” and speaks “helplessly” when he tells her, simply, that he “fell in love” (195). Because love can occur so unexpectedly, and because he never intended to leave the country and fall in love with another woman, he feels helpless to resist it or even to explain it. Ultimately, his honesty, combined with Kate’s own entirely separate admission that love and marriage are “illogical” help Hadley to recognize that, in the end, no one is to blame for the family’s circumstances. Furthermore, the Dickens quotation to which Andrew draws Hadley’s attention, about whether it is “better to have had a good thing and lost it, or never to have had it” (67), emphasizes the fact that people have endured similar circumstances for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In the end, the relationships between Andrew and Kate, and Andrew and Charlotte, highlight this theme.
The Inevitability of Fate
As early as the Prologue, the text suggests that coincidence is an illusion and that there are no true accidents in life. In the Prologue, the narrator asks readers to “imagine” the myriad ways that the story’s events “could have all turned out differently” (1). This query suggests that if any decision, delay, or event—however apparently insignificant—is altered, the entire course of Hadley’s day would change dramatically. Furthermore, the narrator says, “Hadley isn’t a big believer in things like fate or destiny, but then, she’s never been a big believer in the punctuality of the airline industry, either” (2). This passage implies that if Hadley can misjudge the industry’s punctuality, then she can be wrong about fate, too. This insinuation about the existence of destiny is also reinforced by the narrator’s assertion that four minutes—the amount of time by which Hadley misses her first flight—can change “everything.” Thus, although being four minutes late seems accidental and insignificant, the novel ultimately proves that four minutes is all it takes to set in motion a chain of events that leads to greater love and understanding.
If she were not late, Hadley would not meet and fall for Oliver, and then she would not have the experiences that allow her to understand her father’s feelings and to move forward. A cynical interpretation might claim that Hadley’s lack of preparedness makes her late, or that it is only bad luck when she cannot find Oliver at baggage claim. Similarly, the O’Callaghans mention of the funeral in Paddington might be mere coincidence. However, the narrator suggests that these cascading circumstances and the events to which they lead represent too many fortuitous chances to be anything other than “fate.” Additionally, Hadley’s experiences with Oliver are designed to help her comprehend her father’s choices and empathize with him; through her own tumultuous experiences, she learns the very lessons she needs to develop this broader understanding.
Likewise, Kate Sullivan’s claim that her and Andrew’s divorce was “for the best” (36) underscores the idea that there are no accidents in life. Andrew’s love for Charlotte makes him happier than Hadley has ever seen him, and she sees a similar happiness in her mother when Kate is with Harrison. She realizes that if Andrew had returned home as planned, leaving Charlotte in England, then both of her parents would end up embittered and angry, as Oliver’s family has become. Moreover, the fact that both Andrew and Kate emphasize the illogical nature of love helps Hadley to realize the purposeful nature of these events. In the end, Hadley’s experiences and those of her parents show that there are no accidents, only events whose unpredictability makes them seem accidental when they are not.
The Importance of Intuition
When Hadley trusts her intuition, her life improves, and she becomes more independent. This process highlights the long-term benefits of honoring one’s intuition. This dynamic first becomes apparent in the airport, for although Hadley considers declining Oliver’s offer to help for a third time, she sees his eyes and realizes that “the very last thing he wants is to be left behind right now” (16). She trusts this instinctual impression without knowing him at all, and she turns out to be right. Later, on the plane, Hadley asks Oliver if he has a girlfriend, something she considered asking for hours until she finally blurts it out, and she notes his expression, “full of understanding, a seal on the unspoken agreement between them that something is happening here, that this just might be a kind of beginning” (79). Hadley doesn’t make a conscious decision to ask about Oliver’s eligibility, and although the question bursts from her with an ineptitude that makes her cringe, it is clearly the right thing to do because it furthers the relationship in its earliest stages. Her intuition therefore leads her in a pleasing, if unexpected direction, and she follows it. It also leads to the kiss at customs that makes her feel the safest she has ever felt in her life.
Later, Hadley trusts her intuition again when the O’Callaghans mention the funeral’s location in Paddington and when she arrives in the neighborhood with no idea where to go; without this trust in herself, it is possible that she would never see Oliver again. She allows her intuition to lead her through London, unaccompanied, with a nearly dead cell phone, and no map or even the church’s name. Once she reaches Paddington, Hadley’s first instinct is to call her mother for guidance, but when this plan fails, she is forced to fully depend on her own intuition and pursue her course of action despite the absence of the person who usually guides her. When she spots a church in the distance, Hadley “know[s] without knowing that this is the one” (165), and her instinct is proven correct. As a result of this series of moments in which Hadley trusts her intuition, she is able to return the emotional support that Oliver offered her on the plane, and she also unintentionally gives him the address of the reception, which allows him to find her later. Hadley’s intuition therefore gives her the courage to do something spontaneous and to stick to that decision even when the odds are stacked against her.
Related Titles
By Jennifer E. Smith
