54 pages • 1 hour read
Kate Elizabeth RussellMy Dark Vanessa
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.
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
Nature
Imagery and allusions to nature abound throughout the novel, drawing attention to both the natural and the unnatural forces at play in Vanessa’s relationship with Strane. Vanessa identifies with nature; she is born and bred in Maine, beloved for its dramatic landscape and its rugged weather conditions. Even Vanessa’s home address belies her remote origins; she grows up in a house on Whalesback Lake in the eastern region of the state, and the area is so isolated that it does not have an official name. Vanessa, an only child, grows up with only her imagination and her books to keep her company. Strane is from Montana, a state known for its remoteness and for its beautiful natural landscape. Vanessa’s connection to nature is just one of the qualities that attracts Strane and enables him to cement their emotional connection soon after they meet in his English class.
Strane’s first compliment to Vanessa takes note of her “hunter-green jersey” (27) dress, a color that readers can associate with the season of spring, a time of year that promises growth and symbolizes vitality and innocence. The specific green she wears is hunter-green; this moment gives the reader a glimpse into Vanessa’s confusion around who initiated their relationship; Strane voices his appreciation of the dress, but it is Vanessa who selects the dress in the first place. When Strane compares Vanessa’s red hair to the color of a maple leaf, he reveals his deeper interest in Vanessa and communicates this interest to her via the language of nature, which Vanessa understands.
Dogs
Three dogs play an important symbolic role in the novel. Two dogs are allies to Vanessa, Babe, and Jolene, and they show Vanessa the love and loyalty that dogs often symbolize when in relationships with humans. Babe is the name Vanessa’s father gives his birthday Labrador puppy when Vanessa is home for the weekend early in her sophomore year. The puppy takes the place of the Wye family dog who died the previous summer, before Vanessa’s fateful sophomore year at Browick; this dog represents the death of Vanessa’s innocence.
Vanessa’s immediate attachment to Babe the Labrador puppy emphasizes Vanessa’s identification with the young dog; Vanessa’s pale coloring matches that of the Labrador puppy, who was left at the local animal shelter for adoption, as isolated and alone in a cold environment as friendless Vanessa in her sophomore year at Browick.
When Strane visits Vanessa at Whalesback Lake later in the school year, his aversion to dogs highlights Strane’s latent aggressive nature. He kicks the innocent young dog when she greets him at the door, giving Vanessa a way to experience hatred toward Strane that she cannot experience for herself and for the way Strane treats her. His rough handling of Babe illuminates the author’s choice of name. Like Vanessa, the puppy is a mere babe, inexperienced and immature yet forced to live in a confusing adult world where dangerous people resemble trustworthy ones.
At the end of the novel, Vanessa can support herself and to feel whole again when she adopts a dog of her own. She names the dog Jolene, a woman’s name that allows both Vanessa and the reader to feel that her adoption of the dog enables her to feel as if she now has a close female friend or relative living with her and showing her unconditional loyalty and love.
Maternal Figures
Vanessa finds both of her parents to be embarrassing, especially when they show they are unafraid to be their working-class selves while on the campus of the expensive Browick school. Vanessa’s reluctance to be associated with her parents is developmentally normal, but her mistrust of her mother is less healthy. Vanessa’s relationship with her mother is established early in the novel as a problematic relationship that leaves Vanessa feeling alone and uncertain as she navigates the confusing world of adolescence, and this motif of mothers and maternal figures continues with other female figures in Vanessa’s life.
Vanessa’s mother lacks sensitivity, speaking to her daughter harshly and causing Vanessa to withdraw even further into herself for fear of being misunderstood or criticized. When Vanessa’s relationship with Strane begins, Vanessa begins to feel superior over other females in her life that she feels are less interesting than her, like her mother and her dorm parent Ms. Thompson. This disconnect with both maternal figures is unfortunate for several reasons. At one point in the novel, Ms. Thompson had the opportunity to protect Vanessa from Strane but misses it; at another point, Vanessa’s mother learns about the affair with Strane but chooses not to pursue the topic with Vanessa, leaving Vanessa to cope with the aftermath of her expulsion from Browick on her own.
Other maternal figures appear in the novel, like Mrs. Antonova, Vanessa’s academic advisor. Mrs. Antonova adheres to strict boundaries, refusing to allow students into her personal life and showing concern primarily for Vanessa’s academic performance. Mrs. Antonova does not notice that Vanessa’s falling grades are a sign of an emotional disturbance, criticizing Vanessa for her poor performance instead of showing care.
Only Ruby, Vanessa’s therapist, shows unambiguous support for Vanessa, as befits her role in Vanessa’s life. The adult Vanessa meets with Ruby to cope with the death of her father, and their relationship continues when Vanessa’s needs for support around her issues with Strane become apparent. As an adult, Vanessa can accept her mother’s gestures of apology and concern, forgiving her mother for letting her down when she was younger and demonstrating a capacity for deep emotion that seems to elude most of the other female characters in the novel.
