60 pages • 2 hours read
Simone St. JamesThe Sun Down Motel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A 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
The Photograph of Vivian
For Carly, the photograph of Vivian is a symbol of family secrets. This is the photograph that Carly comes across in her mother’s drawer, and she uses it to speculate about who her aunt was and what was happening around the time of her disappearance.
The photo also symbolizes the way the media depicts missing and murdered women. When Viv sees it for the first time, she imagines a newspaper using it in an article about her and thinks about how someone seeing the photo would perceive her. This is in fact the photo the paper uses when Viv disappears, highlighting how the media and society broadly flatten women’s personalities and lives into two-dimensional cautionary or sensationalist figures.
Viv Cutting Her Hair Short
Viv cuts her hair short when she arrives in Fell. The act symbolizes her reinvention of herself and her independence from her family; her mother disapproves of women with short hair. The cut therefore also reflects Viv’s refusal to cater to misogyny—specifically, societal ideas about “good” and “bad” women.
The Barn
The barn is a symbol that reinforces the theme of secrets hidden in plain sight. The barn is a convenient abandoned location for Viv, Marnie, and Alma to place Simon, even if it ends up being temporary. Carly, Heather and Nick’s discovery of the photographs of the barn result in Nick noticing the TV tower in the background. He remembers where that tower used to be before it was torn down and leads them to the barn, and ultimately to the discovery of Simon and his car.
Robert’s Envelope of Cash
The envelope of cash is a symbol reinforcing the themes of reinventing oneself and women overcoming obstacles. Viv remembers the envelope she placed in the drawer after Robert attacked her, and she takes this money to start over after killing Simon. There is poetic justice in the fact that Viv uses the evidence of one man’s misogyny—the blackmail money Roger pays to cover up his affair—to protect herself after she kills Simon, a serial killer who preys on women.
The Notebook
Viv’s notebook is a motif that connects all of the cases of the women who were killed by Simon Hess. The notebook reinforces the theme of secrets hidden in plain sight, as Viv places the notebook in the candy machine at the motel for Carly to find.
The Motel Guest Book
The guest book is a motif reinforcing the theme of secrets hidden in plain sight. Simon Hess uses false names in the guest book or doesn’t sign it at all. This prompts Viv’s investigation into the traveling salesman.
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