33 pages • 1 hour read
Colum McCannLet the Great World Spin
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A 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
Clothing
The necessities of life include food, shelter, and clothing. One of the corporal works of mercy in the Roman Catholic tradition is to “clothe the naked.”
Thus, one of Corrigan’s acts of growing religious commitment is to give away his father’s suits to the poor on the day of his mother’s funeral. This symbolizes Corrigan’s complete disrespect for the father who abandoned his mother and her sons. It also foreshadows Corrigan’s later work with poor in New York.
The symbolism of clothes becomes much more personal in Corrigan’s relationship with Adelita. When she comes to visit him in a provocative outfit, Corrigan “clothes” her, as well. “But instead of asking her to unknot the blouse and cover herself up he made a theater of giving her one of his own shirts to wear over her outfit. As if it were the tender thing to do. He draped it around her shoulders, kissed her cheek. It was one of his old black collarless shirts, past her thighs, almost down to her knees. He hitched it on her shoulders, half afraid he was being a prude, the other half rocked by the sheer immensity of what was happening to him” (58).
The sense of sexual energy created in the act of putting clothes on instead of taking them off demonstrates McCann’s creative skill as a writer.
The Highwire/Tightrope
Many of the characters in the novel, especially the prostitutes on the edge of destitution, are walking a fine line symbolized by the tightrope walker’s wire, in which one misstep can be fatal. This turns out to be true for Tillie and Jazzlyn. They break the law every day and face starvation and homelessness. All it takes is one bad decision or to steal from the wrong client, and they both fall off the tightrope to their deaths.
Some of the characters walk emotional, rather than physical, tightropes. Claire is a good example. In her grief over her son, she might cycle down into depression or madness. One member of her group of grieving mothers already appears to have mild delusions. Might Claire be facing a breakdown?
Corrigan’s tightrope is spiritual and theological. He comes to a point where he can neither commit to his love for Adelita nor stay faithful to his vows to God. Corrigan walks a very painful tightrope, full of anguish and suffering. He is right on the edge, and if he loses his balance, he will fall and crash. In the novel, of course, the literal crash comes even though Corrigan has not yet made a decision.
Vehicles
The author uses vehicles and transportation in a symbolic way throughout the novel. Corrigan drives a van to move the elderly out of the confines of the nursing home. The van creates freedom for Albee and the others. The subway trains create excitement for Fernando and take him places he could never get to on foot. On the other hand, Albee is confined in his wheelchair, unable to function without its wheels. Thus, wheeled vehicles symbolize both freedom and confinement.
The van carries Corrigan and Jazzlyn into harm’s way on the day of their fatal crash. Blaine and Lara misuse their vehicle—they are high on drugs while driving—and cause two deaths. Thus, motor vehicles also symbolize the ever-present danger of injury or death.
The vehicle as a symbol of impending danger is reflected in the image of the plane that appears in the photo of the tightrope walker. The author inserts this into the book pretending that it was created by the fictional character Fernando. The actual planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11 are never mentioned in the text, but readers easily recognize the connection.
The World Spinning in Space
“We stumble on, thinks Jaslyn, bring a little noise into the silence, find in others the ongoing of ourselves. It is almost enough. . . . The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough. She lies on the bed beside Claire, above the sheets. The faint tang of the old woman’s breath on the air. The clock. The fan. The breeze. The world spinning.” (Chapter10, p. 349).
The key here is the “ongoing of ourselves.” This refers both to individual choices, such as Gloria’s taking on the two orphan girls, and broader commitments to justice, civil, rights, women’s rights, and other causes. The human legacy can be found both in families and in movements.
The world spins. It moves. This reminds the reader that life is a process, a process of change. Often the change is not apparent until one gets a larger perspective, such as one might get in space watching the earth. It may also take time. In this instance, Jaslyn has had a many decades to see the changes that allowed her to escape poverty and violence in the ghetto. She sees the past as past and recognizes the peace and beauty she can find in the present.
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